What happened to Bob Herzog’s weekly “Dance Party Friday” segments on WKRC-TV? Why did Local 12 stop the music – or make them so sporadic?
Why so few sequels to the clever “Bridgetown Funk” (to “Uptown Funk,” with Green Township firemen and police, and John Lomax driving Ron Roost’s “Roostermobile”), or “Just Don’t Go” (advising people not to drive during bad snow storms to the tune of “Let It Go” from “Frozen”), or "Traffic Man" (to Elton John’s “Rocket Man”).
There are two reasons, explains Herzog, co-anchor on top-rated “Good Morning Cincinnati” (4:25-9 a.m., Channels 12, 64):
More work: Herzog’s promotion from traffic reporter to co-anchor with Lomax and Sheila Gray has limited his time to write and produce music parodies.
Music rights fees: The station and owner Sinclair Broadcast Group are concerned about the expensive music rights fees.
“The music rights thing continues to be an important issue, and with my duties having evolved, there’s not just not always a chance to pull things off like we did back in the day. Still, it’s always a blast when we can figure things out,” says Herzog, who was a – fun fact here – local attorney for a year before his TV career.
Herzog’s “Dance Party Friday” segments have been YouTube sensations and media virals since his first one in 2007 “Just Don’t Go” has been viewed 2.3 million times in two years.
CNN, Fox News, VH1, other networks and local TV stations from coast to coast have played his videos. Traffic reporters in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago have copied his dance segment idea. In 2008, he did a “dance off” simulcast with the traffic reporter at Chicago’s WMAQ-TV.
He started cutting back on his music videos the past year. In recent months, he’s done only three – a Christmas segment in December, and for the “Kinky Boots” Broadway series show and with theBen-Gals cheerleadersbefore the wild card playoff game this month.
“It’s a little easier to work with Christmas music. We’re still definitely picking our spots, though,” he says.
“I do get quite a few inquiries about 'DPF' and why we don’t do it as much. I’m just glad that we do still find a way occasionally. Hopefully, that makes them more fun too -- spread ’em out so we don’t get toooo repetitive. I only have the three dance moves after all.
“And you’re right, “Bridgetown Funk,” will be tough to top. That one is my favorite. Getting John Lomax behind the wheel of the Roostermobile is a career highlight.”
