Talk about wealth: Plum TV, a new TV network aimed at broadcasting local events/news at resort towns for the rich, has received $20 million in funding, from some big names. Investors include former Viacom CEO Tom Freston, former AOL COO Robert Pittman’s investment firm, Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht, Kraft Group CEO Robert Kraft, singer Jimmy Buffett, Jason Flom, chairman of EMI Group’s Virgin Records U.S., and others.
The TV service broadcasts from resort town such as Aspen, Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Telluride and Vail. Soon to come: stations in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Miami Beach, Fla. Plum TV’s founder and CEO is Tom Scott, who co-founded beverage brand Nantucket Nectars, acquired by Cadbury-Schweppes in 2002 for about $100 million.
As WSJ rightly points out, publications targeting the rich—such as Hearst Corp.‘s Town & Country, CurtCo Media’s Robb Report and local magazines in wealthy communities—have long been around and captured advertiser dollars. That’s the thought behind Plum TV as well.
Besides regular TV schedule, it is also on Comcast VOD, and online on Google Video and AOL Video. Scott said some of the new investment would be used to fuel more growth in the digital market, adding more multimedia elements to the stations’ sites.