Positioning the social network as a breeding ground for television series, MySpace has signed a deal with a British-based production firm, ShineReveille International, to distribute its video content overseas, the New York Times reports.

MySpace, which counts 110 million members and is owned by the News Corporation, has increasingly sought to be seen as a destination for original content and in a news release on Thursday, the company called itself “Hollywood’s digital playground.”

ShineReveille International, the distribution arm of the Shine Group, has brokered the international format rights to hit shows including “The Biggest Loser” and “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”

“We’re very excited to see how the shows on online platforms can transfer to television,” Alex Mahon, the president of the Shine Group, said.

Elisabeth Murdoch, a daughter of the News Corporation’s chairman, Rupert Murdoch, is the chief executive of the Shine Group.

Online video shows typically lack the expensive production values of television and often run shorter than five minutes in length. They have remained largely untested on television. James McQuivey, an analyst for Forrester Research, said MySpace might be trying to demonstrate optimism in the future of the online video medium.

“We haven’t yet seen a show start on the Web and succeed enough to go to television and require this kind of international deal-making,” Mr. McQuivey said.

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