It's rare for a Hot AC to switch to Christmas music. It's such a stretch because almost no artists currently heard on Hot AC can be heard on a Christmas station. Most Xmas music was recorded from the 1940s (Bing Crosby) to 2000 (Mariah Carey). In a few markets where an AC station has segued to Hot AC, such as WALK-FM Long Island and KYXY San Diego, they still do Xmas music during the holidays. But I really can't think of any Hot AC that didn't make that transition, doing Christmas music.
Actually, I was always amazed that WROR did the Christmas format for all those years. Yes, it's a Classic Hits station, and in some markets, such as Dallas and Minneapolis, a Classic Hits station is the place for Holiday music each year, because Dallas and Minneapolis have no AC station. So KLUV and KQQL do the job. But those are pop-leaning Classic Hits stations, where you might hear Madonna and Michael Jackson. WROR is a Classic Rock-leaning Classic Hits station. Again, I don't know anywhere else in the U.S. where such a station does Xmas music. A few years ago, Greater Media made the logical decision to put Xmas music on AC WMJX and remove it from WROR.
About five years ago, CBS ordered all its Classic Hits stations to go with the Xmas format... WCBS-FM NYC, KRTH Los Angeles, WOGL Philadelphia, etc. But that was for one year only. Now only CBS AC stations (except in the aforementioned Dallas and San Diego) do the Xmas format. That's not to say this year, CBS wants to spread the high ratings Holiday music brings. But it's unlikely on a Hot AC station.
