Best of the Best 2012:
The Third Coast Festival Broadcast

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Best of the Best: The 2012 Third Coast Festival Broadcast showcases the winning entries of the 12th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. This is THE place to hear the most accomplished producers and best emerging talent from around the world, artists who are shaping the future of public radio.

Award-winning host and humorist Gwen Macsai (author of Lipshtick) hosts the show with appearances from some surprise guests.

These and other pieces are featured in the Best of the Best
(Official list of winning pieces.)

Five Percent
Teen Contender from Radio Diaries
(Best Documentary: Gold)
Sam's Story
Living Nine Eleven from WNYC
(Best Documentary: Honorable Mention)
Jay Thunderbolt
She Sees Your Every Move from Jonathan Mitchell
(Best Documentary: Honorable Mention)

Listen to the full playlist of Third Coast winners on PRX from 2005-'12.

Hear last year's 2011 Third Coast Broadcast.

About the Special


Program Description

Each fall the Third Coast International Audio Festival brings the best new documentaries produced worldwide to the national airwaves in a special two-hour program.

The 2012 broadcast includes evocative stories, and much more.

Host Gwen Macsai, an award-winning writer, producer and humorist, is our guide through this annual tour of the world's best new documentaries.

The featured documentaries, all winners of the 12th annual TC / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition, demonstrate just how powerful radio can be. Innovative and insightful, the stories will engage, provoke, entertain, and transport listeners. In addition to these memorable stories, Best of the Best includes clips from our 2012 awards ceremony and interviews with winning producers Joe Richman, Sue Jaye Johnson, Habiba Nosheen, Brian Reed and Laurence Grissell who give us a glimpse into the art of audio storytelling. You'll also hear from Olympic gold metal winner Claressa Sheilds, subject of the Third Coast gold award-winning story, Teen Contender.


Host Bio

Gwen Macsai hosts the Third Coast International Audio Festival’s weekly radio program Re:sound. She’s an award-winning writer, producer and humorist, whose radio work has aired on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition Saturday. She's also the creator of the television sitcom What About Joan starring Joan Cusack, and author of Lipshtick, a book of humorous first-person essays.


Program Website

For more information about the Third Coast Festival, promotional materials, and fun things like T-shirts, head to thirdcoastfestival.org.

Airing the Special


Availability

Best of the Best: The 2012 Third Coast Festival Broadcast will be available on PRX.org on Nov. 14, 2012.

Fees

Free to stations with PRX memberships.

Program Feed Schedule

The program will be available exclusively on PRX.org for streaming preview and MP2 download on Nov. 14.

Two generic, ready-to-air promos are available now here. Custom promos for stations are available by emailing Third Coast.

Length and Clock

The Best of the Best special can be broadcast as a 2-hour program (:59 plus :59) or as staggered, separate hours of :59 and then :59. Floating cutaways at approximately :20 and :40.

Scheduling Suggestions

Over the past ten years the Third Coast Broadcast has become an annual Thanksgiving weekend tradition on scores of public radio stations. As a celebration of radio, the Third Coast broadcast is perfect anytime during the holiday season or beyond.

  • We suggest a two-hour clock of the program OR
  • Using the 2011 Third Coast Festival Broadcast to promote your upcoming broadcast of the 2012 Best of the Best OR
  • Dropping into your local shows some of the award-winning pieces from previous competitions (available on PRX.org) as a marketing hook for the special broadcast.
Broadcast Rights

Stations with PRX memberships may carry this program two times though October 31, 2013. The program must be carried in its entirety. No excerpting is permitted. Simulcast streaming is permitted. Stations must complete a carriage report on PRX.org. Questions? Contact prxhelp [at] prx (dot) org.

National Underwriters

The Third Coast International Audio Festival is a non-profit arts organization made possible with lead support from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Boeing Company Charitable Trust, Chicago’s Navy Pier and American Airlines.