In 2021, our digital department began to grow and the extra resources allowed us unprecedented opportunities to pursue new projects and programs, including a series of shows that would only appear on our station’s digital channels:

  • Postscript with Adam Chodak
  • Rochester Rundown
  • What’s Good
  • Songs From Studio B

While not compromising our day-to-day news coverage, we’ve expanded our digital offerings to include these shows, with plans for further expansion in 2022.

Postscript with Adam Chodak

Known locally and colloquially as “Friday Thoughts,” News 8 WROC lead anchor and managing editor Adam Chodak delivers a two-minute monologue each week to help send viewers into their weekend with a thoughtful message, often devoted to a singular theme or topic.

This tradition began back in March 2020 as the pandemic was just getting started locally as a way to reassure viewers in a confusing time that they were not alone. It was well received and we decided to keep it going each week through 2020, 2021 and now in 2022.

Although it started with our 11 p.m. newscast and social media, we’ve since housed this series on our website; a series that last year helped Adam win a New York State Broadcasters Association (NYSBA) award for Outstanding Social Media Personality and our station a Regional Murrow award for Digital.

Rochester Rundown

A once-per-week show that encompasses the top local headlines in a given week into a condensed, easy to consume program for our viewers. We aim to keep these relatively short, with a tag line of “Seven days of news in seven minutes or less.”

What’s Good

Another once-per-week show that encompasses local headlines, but only focuses on positive upbeat stories in the community. While the Rochester Rundown series tackles the hard news, What’s Good spotlights things that may have flown under the radar. Whether it’s a lemonade stand fundraiser to help build an inclusive playground, or a pair of city school teachers making the Billboard Top 100

Songs From Studio B

Inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk series, Songs From Studio B offers local and touring musicians a chance to perform a live set with studio quality sound. Live concerts began to make their return in 2021, but the up and down nature of the pandemic caused some venues to open and close as the tides of COVID-19 rose and fell.

While all that was happening, booking gigs became increasingly difficult for bands, especially smaller local ones. This new series offered musicians a chance to perform live, with high-quality audio, and a platform to connect to new fans.

2021 brought about a lot of new content ideas at our station and with our digital department growing once again, we look forward to more innovative ways to bring local news to our community.