New Net

In 1943 only four radio stations were aiming their programs at a Negro audience. By last week the number had grown to 270 (out of a U.S. total of more than 2,500 stations). Next month Chicago Adman Leonard Evans hopes to capitalize on this "fantastic growth" by launching the first nationwide Negro radio network —40 stations from Miami to Los Angeles.

Two sponsors, Pet Milk and Philip Morris, have already signed for a weekday, 15-minute show, The Story of Ruby Valentine, starring Juanita (Bali Ha'i) Hall. Evans is not yet sure whether he will use "This is the National Negro Network" as a sign-off line: "The question is whether to ease our programs quietly into the mainstream of U.S. radio or to set them apart as Negro shows, thereby perhaps driving off potential white listeners."

Evans, 39, a husky (6 ft. 2 in., 195 Ibs.) Negro graduate of the University of Illinois, will have an interracial board of directors, but he is operating in the interest of efficiency, not tolerance ("Experience has shown that stations with black and white staffs are the most successful in reaching the Negro market"). By next fall he plans full network coverage of Negro sports, news and public affairs. Says Evans: "We're starting small, but we're going to wind up big."