£40k the aim for new Scottish sports radio station

Spencer Pryor reckons he has a sporting chance with Eklipse. Picture: Jane Barlow

Investors are being offered a 20 per cent share in Eklipse Sports Radio via Crowdcube, the online crowd funding platform regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The money will go towards working capital for the start-up, which has already received “thousands of pounds” in funding from its directors.

Pryor – who has worked in both the journalism and sales side of broadcasting for the BBC, ITV and independent radio – said the new station would cater to men between the ages of 18 and 50 with a mixture of sports coverage and music.

In addition to football, programming will include coverage of rugby, ice hockey, basketball, racing and 20 or so other sports.

The funding drive follows Eklipse’s approval under the seed enterprise investment scheme, which gives private investors tax breaks to offset any potential losses on their investment.

The origins of Eklipse date back to 1999, when Pryor first received a Radio Authority licence to set up a station in Lanarkshire.

However, the project stalled after the major banks demanded double the amount of up-front money its founders were able to put forward.

“Even though the banks like to congratulate themselves on how they’ve increased lending to small business, in reality they are not interested in any sort of start-ups whatsoever, whether it is radio or a company making widgets,” Pryor said.