A Storyteller You Can Trust

“I'm just a pretty regular guy,” is how television newsman Bob Herzog describes himself.   “I always want to be a person that everyone can trust.”

There’s nothing regular about the path that took this proud Cincinnati westsider, Xavier University graduate, and father of four, to the anchor desk for WKRC-TV, Local 12.  Herzog’s LinkedIn profile lists him as anchor and program host.  That hardly tells the whole story.  He’s been a radio newsman, traffic reporter, theater performer, movie host, lawyer and television personality. Through all of it, he says there has been one common thread.

“I tend to answer storyteller before anything else,” he says. “That’s something that I have enjoyed doing for a very, very long time in different ways and in different capacities. But at the end of the day, a storyteller.”

Herzog grew up in the Oak Hills area of Cincinnati, the second of four children.  His father, Dr. Walter Herzog, was a cardiologist, while his mother, Jane, was an RN who eventually ran her husband’s medical office.

“I always thought I’d be a doctor, like my dad,” Herzog says.

So when he arrived at Xavier, he entered as a premed student, studying what was then called natural sciences. But somewhere along the way, sitting in an organic chemistry class, Herzog had what he describes as a moment of clarity.                    

“I just sort of decided, I’m going to sign up for any class that’ll let me talk.”

He began taking communication courses, including oral and interpersonal communication, and eventually found his way into theater.  A fellow student suggested that he audition for a series of student-written one-act plays.

“I did, and it just was this breath of fresh air that I really needed,” he says.

Xavier professor Debbie Pierce made an impression through her Interpersonal Communication class.  Cathy Springfield, then Director of Theatre Arts, encouraged his interest in acting.  

“Bob was always first to volunteer in acting class.  If Bob was in a cast, you could be sure there would be good energy backstage.  He was always a great example for the theatre experience. “

Stephen Skiles is the current chair of Xavier’s Music and Theatre Department.

“Bob’s always been a ton of fun whenever our paths have crossed.  He is energetic, magnetic and engaging.”

Xavier’s Dr. Eric Anderson became an early mentor.  “Dr. Anderson was very helpful.  I can remember walking out of his office one day, and there was a bulletin board with internship opportunities.”

One of them changed everything.

Between his junior and senior years, Herzog took an internship at a small AM radio station in Northern Kentucky.  He got coffee and ripped AP wire copy until the day the station’s regular news person didn’t show up.

“The manager approached me and said, ‘Our normal news guy’s not here. You’re the news guy today.’ ”

Herzog put on the headphones, delivered his first newscast and soon found himself with a job.  The station, if you can believe it, was WBOB.  His morning newscast was eventually simulcast on a sister station, too.  When Herzog returned to Xavier for his senior year, the classroom and the real world were beginning to merge. 

By graduation in the spring of 1996, he was working for Traffic Watch, a traffic-reporting service based out of The Carew Tower.  Then his career was about to take another turn. when Bob saw an opening with Art Reach, a touring children's theater company.  He left radio to join the troupe.  That meant putting on costumes, performing in schools and sometimes changing clothes in janitor’s closet.

He was also doing voiceover work and substitute teaching while trying to figure out what came next.  

His mother, he says, never seemed particularly worried.

“My mom will always say, ‘I knew you were going to be okay.’”

Next came law school.  Herzog took the LSAT and enrolled at Northern Kentucky University’s Chase College of Law.  He soon earned his law degree, passed the bar and joined a small downtown Cincinnati law firm.

It was while studying law that television began to pull at him.   Channel 64 — then the WB Network — hired Herzog as one of its movie hosts.  10-12 hours a week.  

“I always joke with people that at one point I got to tell my dad that I wasn’t going to be a doctor. And then I got to tell my wife I wasn’t going to be a lawyer.” 

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He left the practice of law and took a full-time position at Channel 64, continuing as its movie host and event personality.  Back then, movie studios would occasionally send local TV personalities to interview movie stars before their films hit the theaters. Sounds great but those opportunities never paid anything and, as he was preparing to fly to London for another junket, reality intervened.  Bob’s wife, Cali, called him as he sat at the airport. Money was tight. 

“In that moment, whatever the dream was, it just sort of died. Like right there.”

He told her jumping from job to job wasn’t fair to the family. He would return to the law firm. But hold on!  Literally ten minutes later his phone rang.   Calling Bob was Elbert Tucker, the news director at WKRC-TV, Channel 12.

“I think we’ve got something for you.”

By the end of 2005, Herzog was working at Local 12 as its first full-time traffic reporter. 

“I remember when I first walked into that newsroom, I was scared to death.” 

“Bob was just naturally relatable,” says Tucker, “and the traffic position seemed like a perfect opportunity for him to get the proverbial foot in the door and grow.    He was also a very dependable member of the newsroom. He cared deeply about his co-workers.”

He started with traffic reports and eventually new opportunities kept coming.

When the Saturday morning anchor position opened, he took on additional hours and eventually became part of the morning anchor team. 

Soon Bob was anchoring the 7 a.m. hour Monday through Friday. Along the way, he had the opportunity to work alongside longtime Cincinnati morning anchor John Lomax.

“John used to say, ‘Just be yourself.’”

Herzog took that advice to heart.  Today, he anchors alongside Sheila Gray and Tera Blake.   Jen Dalton joins him for the 8 a.m. hour. 

“We’ve had each other’s back for 12 years,” Sheila says affectionately.  “He loves making people happy and making people laugh, but Bob is extremely intelligent.  He is a voracious reader. He is plugged in to current events and everything going on in our community, in our nation's capital, across the country,  across the world. 

First and foremost, Bob is a father and husband.

I'm a remarkably fortunate person and I say that mostly because of the family around me. My wife is incredible. My children and son-in-law are brilliant and healthy. And now I have a grandson who makes me smile every day, too. There are certainly other blessings in my life but it starts and ends with them.” 

After more than two decades in television, Herzog has watched the business change dramatically. The skills required of a local television personality today extend far beyond the traditional broadcast.

“If you’re in the local broadcast TV business, you better be able to evolve and be prepared for some changes,” he says.

His unconventional background may actually be an advantage.  That ability to adapt is something he would encourage the next generation of Xavier students to develop.

His advice to students entering Digital Innovation, Film & Television is straightforward: Don't wait.

“Start doing the job now,” Herzog says. “Hit record on your phone and just do it now.”

And then work on the craft, “Get really good at telling a story.”

For Herzog, storytelling isn't simply about delivering information. It is about presenting material in a way that people can understand and connect with.

And that brings him back to the quality he considers most important in his own career.

Trust.

Herzog describes himself as “just some guy.” He dances in Facebook videos. He makes jokes. He doesn't try to present himself as some untouchable television anchorman.

“I'm a pretty goofy guy,” he says, but when the cameras are on, he wants viewers to know exactly who is talking to them — and to believe him.

“People kind of want to know who that’s coming from.”

The goal, he says, is to earn their trust so that they feel they know the person delivering the story.

“I always want to be a person that everyone can trust,” Herzog says. “At the end of the day, if you don’t have that, none of the rest of it matters.”