Ancestry.com and NBC Team Up to Introduce New 'Who Do You Think You Are?' Series

PROVO, Utah, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history resource, proudly announces it has teamed up with NBC as sponsor of the upcoming "Who Do You Think You Are?" television series premiering Friday, March 5 at 8/7c. Ancestry.com provided important research for the show, including tracing the roots of the seven celebrities featured, and collaborated to build the series Web site on NBC.com. Each episode takes one celebrity on an emotional, and often times soul-searching journey to discover the lives of family members who came before them.

Produced by Lisa Kudrow and her production company, Is or Isn't Entertainment, in collaboration with Wall to Wall Entertainment, "Who Do You Think You Are?" explores the roots of Kudrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith. The show is an adaptation of the hit BBC series.

"We are thrilled to be working with NBC, Is or Isn't Entertainment, and Wall to Wall on this incredible new series," said Andrew Wait, Senior Vice President and U.S. General Manager for Ancestry.com. "Through the journeys of these celebrities, we hope millions of Americans will see just how life-changing and rewarding family history can be and begin asking themselves questions about their own roots."

Ancestry.com worked closely with NBC to create the series Web site, found at www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are, where people can learn more about the series, watch episode previews and start researching their own family histories by building a family tree and digging into records on Ancestry.com.

"It is amazing how much genealogy has changed since 'Roots' first aired on network television over 30 years ago," said Wait. "The sheer volume of records and tools now available online means people can often start with only a few pieces of family information and can begin discovering ancestors or even distant cousins within a matter of minutes."

Organizations from across the country participated in the show's development, including professional genealogy research firm ProGenealogists, Inc., the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the New York Public Library and many others.

To help kick off the show, Ancestry.com is launching The Ultimate Family History Journey™ Sweepstakes where individuals can win $20,000 in travel money, expert help and Ancestry.com subscriptions. Those interested can enter for a chance to win at www.ancestry.com.

About Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM), the world's largest online family history resource, has digitized and put online over 4 billion records over the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created over 13 million family trees containing nearly 1.4 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

SOURCE Ancestry.com