Katie Feeney’s reality series is Xfinity’s entry point for the creator economy

What happens when you gather six college-aged creators in a shared house and recruit an ESPN personality to pit those creators against each other? Xfinity is hoping that the answer to that question involves increased awareness.

The Comcast-owned telecom company is behind Best in Class, a short-form series that turns Katie Feeney into the host of a reality competition series. Across seven episodes, Feeney — who has parlayed her own collegiate breakout into a plethora of on-air gigs — will ask the cohabitating creators to compete across a number of social media-related challenges.

“There are six different challenges, and they get to put their content-creator skills to the test, and, ultimately, win $100,000 in a brand deal with Xfinity,” Feeney told Variety. “At the college age, that’s life-changing.”

Best in Class takes place at a house in Montclair, New Jersey, where Xfinity has equipped the competitors with a service that Chief Creative Officer Julie Scelzo describes as “reliable, badass internet.” The idea is to market those high-speed connections to college-age consumers.

Full disclosure: I grew up in Montclair, but we didn’t have anything like Best in Class back in the 90s. Xfinity’s short-form series is one of several recent creator-led projects that are mimicking the rhythm, format, and dramatic presentation of reality shows like The Traitors and Love Island. Alex Cooper‘s Unwell Winter Games is another example of that phenomenon.

In this case, Comcast has a key advantage. In addition to Xfinity, it also owns NBCUniversal, which distributes both The Traitors and Love Island through its Peacock streaming service. NBCU ad sales division Rock Studios linked up with Xfinity for Best in Class. Ad agency Carmichael Lynch is also involved in the production.

How far are reality fans willing to take their love of competition shows? Do they love that format so much that they’ll allow it to sway their opinions on internet service providers? Best in Class will answer those questions while giving Feeney yet another star-making hosting gig.