Cablevision has launched a new "Popcorn DVDs On Demand" VOD service that makes "select" DVD titles available the same day they hit store shelves. Existing customers can head to this URL to set up a profile. Users can browse the selection of films via the iO Digital TV user interface, or directly on Channel 500. New release films are priced at $19.95, plus shipping, while older library titles cost between $9.95 and $15.95, plus shipping.

Once you place an order, you'll get the DVD in the mail within a few days, but can watch your film anytime within 24 hours from purchase. It looks like DVD prices will be slightly more than what you could expect to pay at Amazon, and judging from the press release, the initial title selection seems somewhat limited:Note that this is different from ongoing efforts by some cable providers to offer VOD films the same day they hit DVD shelves. Those efforts would not involve a physical DVD sale. In Cablevision's model, the majority of revenue goes to the film studios, with Cablevision and Los Angeles-based Popcorn Home Entertainment getting progressively smaller slices of revenue. In other models, cable operators would get a much larger share.

Comcast in particular has been eager to eliminate the traditional window that exists between VOD and both rental and theater release. They've been running trials in Pittsburgh and Denver that offers DVD-same day VOD. More ambitiously, earlier this year they stated they'd love to implement a service where customers pay $35-$40 to get VOD titles the same day they hit brick-and-mortar theaters.

Theater owners aren't particularly happy about the idea, and have said it will erode the "magic" of the movie-going experience (sticky floors, chatty viewers, popcorn that requires a second mortgage?).