774 ABC Melbourne

774 ABC Melbourne is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. Originally known by its callsign 3LO, it began transmission on 13 October 1924 – Melbourne's second radio station after 3AR.

History

The station was initially owned by the Broadcasting Company of Australia, which represented, amongst others, J and N Tait (theatrical entrepreneurs), Buckley and Nunn Limited (a department store) and The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (a newspaper company). It was named after 2LO in England, where the LO stood for London.

The station began transmission with an outside broadcast of a performance of 'La Bohème' featuring Dame Nellie Melba, from His Majesty's Theatre.

From 1928 the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was responsible for the technical side of all Australian A Class stations including 3LO. The Australian Broadcasting Company was given a licence to provide all programming – an arrangement which remained until 1932 when the Australian Broadcasting Commission was formed. The two Melbourne stations (3LO & 3AR) had a studio in Melbourne Place, a laneway off Russell Street near Little Collins Street, until the building of Broadcast House in Lonsdale Street in 1945. The 3LO on-air studio at Broadcast House was studio 308, although for many years the news broadcasts came from Marland House in Bourke Street. The studios were transferred to the ABC's new Southbank Centre in 1995.