ABC

When the Blue Network had the happy notion of calling itself the ABC (for American Broadcasting Corp.), one Leonard Adrian Versluis (rhymes with caboose) protested. His Associated Broadcasting Corp. of Grand Rapids claimed prior rights to the catchy initials. This week Versluis' ABC announced that it was about to become (on Sept. 16) the nation's fifth coast-to-coast network.

Dutch-descended Leonard Versluis, 47, is a dapper go-getter who made a fortune operating a chain of photographic studios in Michigan. In 1940, he built a station in Grand Rapids as a sideline, went on from there to the Wolverine Network, then last year blossomed out with the ABC.

His new chain will air programs 16 hours a day to all sections of the U.S. except the South and Southwest where transmission facilities will not be available until after the war. To start with, it will have hookups with independent stations in 18 cities including New York, Chicago, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.

Shunning the high-cost variety programs which are standard diet on other networks, ABC instead plans to give listeners a full quota of news, sports events and music; it will also feature special events and public service programs. Already in the works is a special V-J day setup that Versluis boasts will "beat the brains" out of his rival networks.

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