WTTW studio

Robservations on the media beat:

Chicago’s two leading public broadcasters announced a news partnership Monday that could lead to joint reporting of stories and online collaborations. Via a newly installed robotic camera, reporters from Chicago Public Media WBEZ FM 91.5 will appear on “Chicago Tonight,” the nightly news program on Window to the World Communications WTTW-Channel 11. In turn, a new high speed fiber line will allow WTTW hosts and correspondents to appear live on WBEZ news and talk shows.

Ron Magers

On the eve of his retirement as Chicago’s No. 1 news anchor, Ron Magers is making his own news in his sideline as a horse breeder. A colt Magers bred named Zulu could be a contender for the Kentucky Derby. “We’ve been fortunate enough to be living versions of the dream off and on for a long while,” Magers told Thoroughbred Daily News Monday. “So every step of this has been part of a dream, but Zulu is obviously the most exciting part. We’ve been very lucky.” Meanwhile, no official word yet from ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 on Magers’ retirement, but all signs point to ABC 7 veteran Alan Krashesky succeeding him after the May sweeps.

Ed Sherman

Ed Sherman, the veteran Chicago Tribune sports media columnist and independent blogger, has a new credit: He’s managing editor of JewishBaseballMuseum.com, a just-launched website celebrating the impact of Jews in baseball. Highlights of the site include more than 50 videos and thousands of baseball cards for every Jewish player. Sherman, who’s been working on the project since last September, said it’s a precursor to an actual Jewish Baseball Museum to be opened by owner Jeff Aeder in Chicago in 2017.

Paul Zbyszewski

A former producer of “Fox Thing in the Morning” has found fame and fortune among the superheroes of Hollywood. Paul Zbyszewski, who worked for Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 in the ’90s, is co-creator and co-writer of “Marvel’s Most Wanted,” a spinoff of ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” which he also wrote and produced. ABC just ordered a pilot for the proposed series. Zbyszewski, who was born and raised in Chicago, tired of the morning grind at Fox 32 and moved out to Los Angeles with his wife. After years of effort as a writer's assistant and aspiring screenwriter, he became a writer on "Weakest Link" and supervising producer on “Lost.”