December 19th, 2006 12:00am

By CURTIS WACKERLE

Sun Valley is Plum's seventh market

New York City-based Plum TV announced Tuesday that it has acquired two TV stations in the Sun Valley market, figuring that the resort with many similarities to Aspen is ripe for the picking.

Sun Valley will be Plum's seventh market, along with Aspen, Vail, Telluride, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the Hamptons. Plum is a young company, which started on the East Coast in 2004 before moving into the Rockies. Before Sun Valley, Plum's most recent move was entering the Telluride market this summer.

With the ink on the contracts barely dry, a Plum press release said the network expects to be up and running in the area by the summer.

The deal nets Plum two previously existing channels. One carries a local morning and afternoon show and programming from Independent Television. The other channel carries Resort Sports Network programming. It is unclear how the programming will change once Plum takes over.

Plum representatives said Sun Valley is an obvious fit for the TV network. Like Plum's other markets, the area has natural beauty, a hard-charging local population and distinguished visitors.

"We are psyched to be going to Sun Valley," said Plum CEO Tom Scott in a press release. "Having visited Sun Valley many times, I think the area is the perfect next step for us."

In each market, Plum produces local programming, including morning shows and local features. The locally produced content plays alongside shared content from other Plum stations. For instance, last spring's Ben Harper concert at Aspen's Belly Up can be seen on Plum's other stations.

Kutcher Miller, general manager of Plum TV Aspen, said he hopes that Plum will bring more locally produced content to Sun Valley, just as the station did when it started up in Aspen in 2005.

"We hope to have a similar first year impact [in Sun Valley] as we did in Aspen," Miller said. "I think the community likes seeing stories about everything from their kid's play to an opening at the art museum to the new Snowmass gondola," Miller said.

Miller said he did not know the terms of the deal.

Clint Stennett, whose company owns the two stations that Plum is acquiring, said it appears his stations are in good hands.

"I think they're a good operator," Stennett said.

Plum and E-Da-Hoe, the previous owner, have "been in discussions for a long time," Stennett said.