joining us now from phoenix, arizona, former npr arts editor bill wyman.ll this merger do for their customers, will they end up paying more? >> probably undoubtedly. but they are not in direct competition anywhere. it's not going to be worse for customers per se, it's going to continue to be paid, if i can make that distinction. >> if the deal goes through, having been a customer of both i know where you're coming from, they will own ms nbc, a ton of local news stations including new york 1, the entire nbc network and all their owned and operated stations around the country. and former sec chairman reedstein would say tilt the negotiating table in media and industries. that is a pretty broad statement. he is basically saying that comcast is going to be able to block competition. >> it's entirely possible and may not pass federal regulation. you have to admit this is a testament to the roberts family's vision of growing the company in a lot of ways, they didn't figure out ten years ago. to be devil's advocate here, they're worried about netscape and the pre

. >> let's bring in our arts and cults cilentor, bill wyman problem contributor bill wyman to talk aboutmillion people, beatlemania invasion, could there be a beatles-like event today? >> that's a great question. we never know what will happen until it does. my suspicion is if there's a phenomenon like that, it may not be a pop music, it may be video games or computers. we have seek big revolutions, it could happens, there's emerging markets and maybe there'll be another worldwide phenomenon. >> do you think it would happen in emerging markets rather than the united states. ut u.s. media is more fragmented. >> it was, but i think the beetles would have happened. you have specific conditions. a weird middle class post-war people with a new grnation of kids. you had the depression of the j.f.k. shooting, and it seemed after elvis there was a lull, and it seemed like state government was building up. you could see it happening in another country. in america it was an event of the 20th century. the beatles, for the '60s, there's the sounds. actual rights. a new attitude of the younger genera

bill wyman, thank you for joining us. the show may be over, but the conversation continues. we'll see you next time. br >> buried in snow and it's still falling in some places. the winter storm that has nearly crippled all of the eastern u.s. >> a gay rights battle playing out in the heartland - laws that some say is the most homophobic in the nation. >> the health of the united states -- the united states must stop harassing afghanistan. >> tough talk from afghanistan president karzai telling the u.s. to butt out as dozens of prisoners considered a danger to america are set free. >> in a program in detroit that will somehow survive the struggling city - one that will give away some homes for free. hi there. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton. good to have you with us. we begin with a winter storm. delivering one last round of snow and sleet before warmer air moves in on friday. the extreme weather is responsible for 21 deaths, and hundreds of thousands are dealing with power outages. 49 of the country's 15 states have snow on the ground. as jennifer london re

joining us is former npr arts editor bill why ma wyman, good e you with us. >> neither are known foron. what will this do for their customers will they pay more? >> probably undoubtedly. but they are direct any competition anywhere, so it won't are worse for customers per se, however it will continue to be bad. if i can make that distinct. >> but if the deal goes through, and having been a customer of both, i know where you are coming from, they will own msnbc. a ton of local news stations including new york 1, the entire nba network and all of their owned and operated stations around the country. and former sec chairman reid hunt said only comcast could have paid this price and the combined company, if approved, would tilt the balance of the power at every negotiating table in media and content and broad band and equipment industries. that is a pretty broad state. he's basically saying comcast can block competition. >> it's entire possible and may not pass regulation, this is a testament to the robers' family vision in growing in company in ways that a lot of us could never imagine

editor bill wyman, glad to have you with us.s is not the first time we've seen jay leno's last episode. this time, is it for real? >> we'll find out. it's up to the ratings and the affiliates and basically what happened last time four years ago is all the cbs -- consume all the nbc affiliates basically revolted about the ratings that conan o'brien got. here we are four years later and we'll see if fallon can keep them happy. >> leno is going out on top. he was on top for most of his tenure there. but late night, is not just on the broadcast networks but cable, dvr, streaming, digital entertainment. the ratings are nothing compared to whatson had in his prime. do late night ratings matter like they used to? >> they don't really, matter. in the middle of the country, i don't think they matter. the big change of course has been social media, fallon, kimmel, how they buzz around in people's immediate. david letterman is still in his saddle, but when david letterman leaves it will definitely be the end of late night. as you said, the

bill wyman, good to see you. have already seen some targeted campaigns against dallas buyers club and wolf of wall street. are they having an effect? >> it's hard to tell and you have to remember, this is hollywood. there is a lot of acting going on so there's smear campaigns and then there's the telling people that you're the victim of smear campaigns. it benefits you on both sides, quite often. dallas buyers club it might a little bit. if it is indeed true that the lead character was made to be something that he really wasn't. on the other hand, most people give math knew mcconaughey really -- matthew mcconaughey really high chances of winning best actor. the wolf of wall street, i don't see that as a big winner in any case so it's hard to tell. >> moifs are somehow seen or the actors to as victims? >> oh absolutely. in basketball it is called, what is it called, flopping oh my god i'm the victim of a smear campaign. people do this really well. the academy runs a very, very tight ship. they don't let a lot of t

bill wyman good to sigh thank for joining us. >> thank you. >> the conversation continues on our website aljazerra.com/considerthis. westervelt >> good evening, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. >> bitter blast - no relief from one of the worst storms in decades. >> thousands of flights grounded. nearly a million people in the dark and the new york mayor taking heat for not closing schools. >> ethnic cleansing in central african republic, investigators find a mass grave. >> an aimish couple fighting ohio over chemotherapy treatment for an 11-year-old girl. >> thunder road - the first report from a photographer who turns america's extreme weather into works of art. >> from the deep south to the canadian border there was a collective grown of enough already. the latest winter storm is more than many can take. white outs, icy roads, travel nightmares and downed powerlines. it's far from over. hitting the north-east and new england, where some places will get 2 feet of snow. hundreds have no power, and there's no telling when the lights will come on again. jen

. >> i spoke with bill wyman earlier and told us how philip seymour hoffman stood out among the stars. >> he had a way of taking over the films. he wasn't a conventionally handsome man, he was shy, inward. he embodied emotions, fear. he took a lot of daring roles, he was in "flawless" and he played the role of a nurse, and in "boggy nights", and "capoate," it was a mincing effeminate man, philip seymour hoffman was big and hulking, but he embodied the strange character and walked away with the acting accolades for that year. weeks ago it was announced that hoffmann would charge in a series about a middle aged man's pursuit of happiness. >> new jersey governor is taking more heat. the latest coming from the assemblym assemblyman. chris christie denied prior knowledge of the plan, even after his close aids were implicated. on "face the nation", assemblyman john says he sees a shadow of doubt. . >> i have skeptisism in the governor statement. i haven't said he has responsibility for this or he knew when this was happening. that's something that wide said. i said the governor made a state

bill wyman, thank you for your time today. >> thanks, jonathan. >>> for the first time in history drought is forcing california to cut off tour millions of customers. the regions will have to rely on local reservoirs. from south pasadena, hear here is more on this. what are they doing in the face of the shortage? >> well, among other things they are praying. versings since the governor declared a state of emergency for the drought, catholic churches throughout the state have been including a weekly prayer for rain in their services. including this one in south pasadena. the california conference of bishops in california asked for this to be done in all the churches. and it is being done every week until there is rain perhaps or even beyond because this drought could go for a while. some other faiths are doing the same thing. this is an age-old tradition, praying for rain. and it is often done in the face of perilous drought. >> the picture is relentlessly bleak. reservoirs running near empty, snowpack at record lows. parched farmland. faced with a drought of historic proportions, californ

bill wyman is in los angeles. the best pictures are not the ones that make the most money. $623 million, or now, $136 million, another very longers, the movie everybody went to see, $623 million. it goes on and on and gets worse if we throw up the next graph taking us to 2003. why is it that the experts like you don't like what those of us whoing to the movies to eat popcorn like. >> that's a great question. it's an interesting phenomenon and i don't think it's been commented on enough, but hollywood moved away from high grossing pictures like forest gump and titanic and started supporting small independent films. >> if you vote with your wallet, it's not hard to figure out at all. that's not a small difference there, it's huge. >> depends how you look added it. all the media industries are challenged, the film industry doing sequels, comic books, the lego movie, battle ships just to get people in the seats. smaller movies have to find a way to survive. the critics say this is a great movie, hollywood say so, both have a way to make a living these days. >> there was a disru