Second Listen: Country One, iHeart’s TikTok Radio, 94.9 The Zone

Part II in a series of “Second Listens” to newsmaking launches of 2026. In Part I, we caught up with “Yacht Rock” WTWV (The Wave) Norfolk, Va., “WKRP in Cincinnati”—the radio station, and TuneIn’s The Big 615, part of its just-dissolved partnership with Garth Brooks. Then we listened again to iHeart’s TikTok Radio, SonicTrek.Ai’s “The Zone” Phoenix, and recently launched KOPW (Country One) Omaha, Neb.

When iHeart Radio relaunched TikTok Radio in March, it felt more like an outpost on the app for people who already listened to Mainstream CHR than an attempt to claim the audience who weren’t listening to broadcast radio. There are still plenty of hits on TikTok Radio, but there is more viral music now, from Karol G’s “Baby WOW” at No. 1 to Steve Lacy’s “The Feeling” (not just “Oh Yeah?”)  and Mac Miller’s “Cinderella” in the top 10.

It won’t surprise most readers that I resisted downloading TikTok for years. When I did, the first video it served me was “Dumping Water on My Roommate,” which was about what I expected. In its first week, it felt like TikTok Radio was steering hard to avoid that wackiness with its “[Life] Hacks on :20” segment; this time, I also heard a fun factoid feature called “I Was Today Years Old.” It did feel like the fun-meme quotient was higher this time as well.

Here’s TikTok Radio on September 22 at 9:45 p.m., ET, with night host Angelina, who talked about still being hoarse from rooting for the 49’ers, and who suggested that people kept posting Earth, Wind & Fire videos a day later because “September” was, after all, looking back on the 21^st. 

• Malcolm Todd, “Earrings”
• Gracie Abrams, “Hit the Wall”
• Tame Impala, “Loser”
• Katseye, “Animal”
• Ariana Grande, “Hate That I Made You Love Me”
• Timbaland f/Keri Hilson & D.O.E., “The Way I Are”
• Dexter & the Moonrocks, “Freakin’ Out”
• Drake, “Shabang”
• Chappell Roan, “Pink Pony Club”
• Steve Lacy, “Oh Yeah?”
• Olivia Rodrigo, “Stupid Song”
• Doechii, “What It Is (Block Boy)”
• Sombr, “My Body Isn’t Ready”
• Bruno Mars, “I Just Might”
• Beyoncé, “Morning Dew (Donk)”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “House Tour”
• Slayyter, “Dance”
• Beaches, “Edge of the Earth”
• Usher f/Will.I.Am, “OMG”
• Stella Lefty, “Boston”
• Fat Papi & Prodshushy, “On My Mind”

UPDATE: On October 5, iHeart launched an evening show, the TikTok Radio Social Club, on nine of its CHRs, with an hour simulcast on TikTok Radio. Hosted by the channel’s Jon Conmouche, Becky Mits, and WHTZ (Z100) New York night Kayla Thomas, topics on the third night, October 7, included:

• Superman: Brand New Day coming to streaming (as a lead in to discussing Tame Impala and Steve Lacy)
• Shakira dueting with Dua Lipa
• Whether YouTube personality “Dr. Mike” would be the next star of The Bachelor. (Thomas did add that she hasn’t watched the show in years.)
• Whether you are obliged to give the foul ball you catch to a kid in the stands
• Taylor Swift’s latest series of “that’s what friends are for” clues (or are they?)
• A “finish the lyrics” game with songs released on this day
• San Diego State University’s version of Love Island, prompting a discussion of whether the show could do their own (except that only Thomas is single).

Joel Denver’s SonicTrek.AI celebrates its first anniversary this month. Denver and Triple-A programmer Dennis Constantine scored the first affiliate of their AI-driven formats in January with the launch of  KZON-HD2 (94.9 The Zone) Phoenix. Since then, Denver and SonicTrek’s Brian Kelly have added a CHR channel, Hit40, to the suite of format offerings.

Hit40 is also worth a listen; it features some of the smoothest hosting yet, courtesy of veteran PD Tim “Rayne” Rainey. The AI-enhanced jocking on The Zone is smoother, too, than it was in January, although some of that is because PD/morning host Constantine’s breaks were relatively simple — frontsells, backsells, local events. 

When SonicTrek.AI launched last year, the biggest industry concern was still AI’s impact on jobs. Now, there are other concerns, and hearing Sting sing “you could say I lost my faith in science and progress” hits different.  At a panel at September’s Conclave in Minneapolis, Denver was confident that the large language model would foster DJs who “didn’t just rip and read from TMZ” and allow broadcasters to better use their time. 

Here’s The Zone on Sept. 30 just before 7 a.m.

• Men at Work, “Who Can It Be Now?”
• Goo Goo Dolls, “Iris”
• Myles Smith, “Hold Me In the Dark”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Snow (Hey Oh)”
• Tears For Fears, “Head Over Heels”
• Jesse Wells, “Won’t You Come Out Tonight”
• Corinne Bailey Rae, “Put Your Records On”
• Sublime, “Santeria”
• Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run”
• Foo Fighters, “Window”
• Walters, “I Love You So”
• Replacements, “I’ll Be You”
• Noah Kahan, “Doors”
• Sting, “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”
• Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeros, “Home”
• Lord Huron, “Not Dead Yet”
• Church, “Under the Milky Way”

I wasn’t planning to come back to KOPW (Country One) Omaha, Neb., after just five weeks, but the station was up 5.2-5.5 in its first month since switching from Rhythmic CHR,  making it the No. 3-listed station in the market. If that progress holds, it will be the first time during this Country boom that a new launch has grown, not cannibalized the format. (It probably helps that no station has picked up the Hip-Hop format yet.)

Country One’s emphasis has been on streaming-era and developing artists. It’s not just playing “Son of Jolene,” it’s playing two other cuts from Belles. On this listen, I also heard Zach Bryan, which is even more of a statement now that Bryan is a little less top-of-mind than three years ago, when his absence on Country radio was a big issue. 

Country One’s first major promotion is Go Big Ella, giving one winner a pair of Ella Langley tickets, but also Cornhusker tickets and a stay in Lincoln. Here’s Country One at with p.m. driver Meg playing 9 in a row at 4 p.m., September 28:

• Dustin Lynch f/Jelly Roll, “Chevrolet”
• Lainey Wilson f/John Mayer, “Phone, Keys, Wallet”
• Parmalee, “Cowgirl”
• Zach Bryan, “Pink Skies”
• Brantley Gilbert, “Good Damn”
• Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You”
• Locash & Parmalee, “Let the Country Music Play”
• Dan + Shay, “Say Something”
• Zach Top, “Sounds Like the Radio”
• Cody Johnson, “Horseback”
• Carter Faith & Wade Flores, “Nothing Better to Do” — with a “First Listen” stager
• Gavin Adcock & Hudson Westbrook, “Cheap Thrills”
• Atlus, “Hold My Liquor”
• Ella Langley, “Loving Life Again”
• Luke Bryan & Luke Combs, “Finders Keepers”·
• Josh Ross, “Hate How You Look”
• Avery Anna, “Blood Runs Thicker”
• Jordan Davis, “Buy Dirt”