Long Lost Family is presented by Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall

US pubcaster PBS has picked up 12 seasons of the UK version of long-running genealogy format Long Lost Family from Dutch distributor Lineup Industries to help feed its slew of new FAST channels.

PBS unveiled a major expansion of its activities in the free ad-supported streaming TV market last month with the launch of more than 150 channels on Amazon’s Prime Video in the US.

Now, the organisation’s PBS Distribution subsidiary has signed a deal with Lineup for Long Lost Family archives, plus seven seasons of spin-off series What Happened Next, to help power new FAST channel, PBS Genealogy, available on Pluto TV in the US, as well as via PBS Passport, available via the PBS app.

Over the course of two decades on air, since its launch on NPO1, Long Lost Family has been produced locally for channels including TLC in the US, Sweden’s TV4, Reshet in Israel, Ten in Australia, DR Denmark, and RTL in Hungary. Produced by Wall to Wall, the UK version originated on ITV, where it has been recognised by awards from BAFTA, Grierson, National TV and TV Choice and inspiring spin-off shows What Happened Next and Born Without Trace.