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Before the commercialization of national broadcasting systems and the domination of popular television programming in Europe by international formatted television, many national television channels regularly adapted successful programmes of foreign origin. This paper investigates the history of the West German crime appeal show Aktenzeichen XY ... ungelost (File XY ... Unsolved) and its Dutch, British and French adaptations. It shows that the programme was adapted to the different national television cultures depending on the specific institutional framework and public debates about the show. Against this background, this paper raises questions regarding the comparative historiography of European television and the contribution of the transnational circulation of television shows to national identities. It argues that the adaptation of transnationally circulating television formats can be best understood as a process of negotiation in which national television cultures redefine their identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]