AMHERST — A mainstay of polka programming on University of Massachusetts radio station WMUA returns to the airwaves later this month.
Mitch Moskal, whose Early Bird Polka Show was canceled in January after 26 years on the campus station, will be back in the Campus Center studio for his two-hour program Oct. 29 at 6 a.m.
Moskal and Billy Belina, who hosted Polka Bandstand since 1979, both lost their shows after changes to the radio station that capped programming by community members at 24 hours per week, and a new program schedule was unveiled by then program director Haley Chauvin.
This left polka to four hours Sunday mornings on WMUA, which broadcasts at 91.1 FM, featuring Todd Zaganiacz’s Polka Carousel and Helen Curtin’s Polka Celebration. But Zaganiaz earlier this month moved his show to WHMP.
With the return of Moskal, Curtin, whose Polka Celebration remained on Sundays, moves her two-hour show to 10 a.m. on Saturdays following Moskal’s show, providing four hours of polka that morning.
Moskal said in an email that Saturdays have been a void in local on-air polka music for several months.
“With the move of Todd Zaganiacz’s Polka Carousel Show to WHMP on Sundays, and a longtime polka show airing on WARE-AM, it only made sense to switch the polka shows to Saturday morning,” Moskal said.
In late May, Moskal returned to hosting a show on Saturdays from 6 to 8:30 a.m. on the online Polka Jammer Network. Coincidentally, his show each week has been followed by Belina’s program.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com
