KPBA (1270 AM) was an American AM radio station transmitting from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Launched as KADL in 1960 by Jefferson County Broadcasting Company, as part of the Southwestern Broadcasting group, KPBA had its license cancelled by the FCC in 2005. History Beginning Jefferson County Broadcasting Company was granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission for a new AM radio station in July 1959. Authorized to transmit with 5,000 watts of daytime-only power on a frequency of 1270 kHz, KADL began licensed broadcast operations on August 19, 1960. At launch, Louis Alford was the station's general manager with Philip D. Brady acting as technical director and Albert Mack Smith serving as secretary-treasurer. License holder Jefferson County Broadcasting Company was in turn owned by Southwestern Broadcasting and operated as one of several stations owned by that group across the Arkansas and Mississippi. Southwestern Broadcasting was originally jointly owned by Louis Alford, Philip D. Brady, and Albert Mack Smith. 1960s and 1970s By 1961, Albert Mack Smith took over as general manager of KADL with Chester Pierce serving as both station manager and commercial manager. By 1965, the station was playing at least 50 hours of country & western music each week and Leon Soles joined the staff as chief engineer. By 1971, KADL had transitioned to a "100%" country & western music format. The station would maintain this music format throughout the 1970s with Albert Mack Smith still serving as general manager of the station and Chester Pierce serving as both station manager and chief engineer. In the late 1970s, the FCC authorized KADL to broadcast with 5,000 watts of power on an unlimited basis, no longer just during daylight hours. Decade of changes After nearly 23 years of operation as KADL, the station was assigned new call sign KABS by the FCC on April 6, 1983. The station's call sign was changed to KZLR on March 30, 1987, in support of a new format under new ownership but faced with serious economic challenges, the station went dark until new ownership could be found. The station resumed broadcasting in 1988 with new owners and the call sign was changed yet again, this time to KPBA on December 29, 1988. (The KPBA call letters had been previously used at 1590 AM, which became KYDE in 1976.) Those owners also struggled financially in the shrinking media market of Pine Bluff and