The station says it will play Christmas music until Dec. 26 and then switch to another format. (CBC)

A Saskatoon pop radio station has laid off its on-air staff and switched to Christmas music.

On Thursday, Wired 96.3, also known as CFWD, told at least five on-air employees that they were out of a job.

"All our contracts were terminated at midnight," said Sasha Spencer, who until Thursday had been the Harvard Broadcasting FM station's morning co-host.

She said she was told by a manager that the contemporary hit format was "not a good fit" for 96.3.

Spencer said there was no warning the layoffs were coming and she spent much of the day in a daze after getting the bad news.

Four other on-air people were also laid off, she said.

"I still have to clean out my desk," she said.

In a news release, the station was calling itself "96.3 Santa FM" and said it would play Christmas music until noon on December 26.

After that, the station will switch to a new format.