The station was initially owned by the Broadcasting Company of Australia, owned by J. & N. Tait (theatrical entrepreneurs), Buckley & Nunn (a department store) and The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (a newspaper company). It was named after "2LO" in England, where the "LO" probably stood for London. However, many radio historians believe the following alternative reason for the name: the first landline between the studio and transmitter did not work properly and, therefore, a second line was put into use, and someone with a sense of humour named the station 2LO, standing for "Second Line Out".