Milena Traikovich stands at the intersection of data-driven marketing and the evolving creator economy. As a seasoned expert in demand generation and performance optimization, she has watched the digital landscape shift from static advertisements to immersive, short-form narratives that live and breathe on mobile screens. Today, we explore how legacy brands like Xfinity and NBCUniversal are rewriting the playbook for reality television by bringing high-stakes competition directly to the vertical feeds of TikTok and Instagram. This conversation dives into the mechanics of the new series “Best in Class,” the explosive financial growth of micro-content, and why showing the messy, unpolished side of creation is the key to winning over a younger, more skeptical generation of viewers.
Mobile viewing for short-form content has surged, yet five-minute vertical reality competitions remain an unproven frontier—how is this format challenging the traditional television model?
We are witnessing a fascinating pivot where the polished, hour-long broadcast format is being compressed into something far more urgent and accessible. Traditionally, reality competition was built for the living room, but “Best in Class” proves that you can capture that same adrenaline in a roughly five-minute vertical window. The debut alone commanded over 2.2 million views across Instagram and TikTok, proving that there is a massive appetite for this “bite-sized” approach. It isn’t just about shorter runtimes; it’s about meeting the audience where they already spend their time, utilizing the same sensory experience they get from scrolling their daily feeds. By leaning into this format, Xfinity and Rock Studios are exploring territory that hasn’t been fully proven yet, but the early engagement—including 7,800 likes and 125 comments on the first episode—suggests the gamble is paying off.
The financial projections for short-form entertainment are staggering, with global revenue expected to climb significantly in the coming years. How are major networks positioning themselves to capture this growth?
The numbers tell a very clear story about where the money and the eyeballs are moving. We are looking at a global revenue jump for short-form scripted entertainment from $11 billion in 2025 to a projected $14 billion by 2026. NBCUniversal is already seeing this play out in real-time; short-form mobile viewing on Peacock surged by 257% year over year in 2025. Networks are no longer treating social media as just a promotional tool for their “real” shows; they are treating it as the primary destination. They are building creative engines specifically to produce high-quality, vertical content that mirrors the production value of a show like “Love Island USA” but fits the mobile habits of a younger demographic. This shift allows them to tap into the deep trust and community that creators have already built, turning that influence into a scalable business model.
In a landscape where many young people are eyeing “content creator” as a viable career, how does a competition like “Best in Class” provide a formal pathway that didn’t exist before?
The creator industry is still in its infancy when it comes to formal career structures, and many college-aged creators are currently at a crossroads, trying to decide if this is a side hustle or a lifelong profession. By offering a six-figure brand partnership as the grand prize, this competition provides a level of financial stability and professional validation that is rare in the freelance-heavy world of social media. It moves beyond the “accidental” fame of a viral video and puts these six contestants through rigorous challenges, like creating sports hype reels for unconventional sports. When Marcus Quinn and Mackenzie Fullam won that specific challenge, they weren’t just winning a game; they were proving they have the professional chops to handle high-level creative briefs. This series acts as a bridge, helping talent take that difficult next step from being a hobbyist to becoming a legitimate industry professional with a major brand backing them.
Most social media content is highly polished and curated, but this series aims to pull back the curtain. Why is it important for audiences to see the trial and error behind the final post?
There is a certain “magic trick” quality to social media where we only see the perfect, finished product, but “Best in Class” purposefully disrupts that illusion. Host Katie Feeney has noted that the series highlights the moments audiences rarely see: the second-guessing, the scrapped ideas, and the frustration of having to adjust an entire concept on the fly. This transparency creates a much deeper emotional connection with the viewer because it humanizes the creators and reveals the sheer grit required to succeed in this space. When a contestant has to throw away a concept they spent hours on because of a “curveball” in the challenge, it adds a layer of tension that is incredibly relatable. That vulnerability is what builds authenticity, and in a world of filters, seeing the raw, unedited struggle is exactly what keeps a digital audience coming back for the next episode.
We have seen reality stars achieve massive fame and transition into fashion or Hollywood, but how does this series reverse that traditional trajectory for creators?
Historically, you went on a reality show to become famous, and then you used that fame to become a creator or an influencer. We saw this with Huda Mustafa, who gained a staggering 2.4 million Instagram followers in just 30 days after her season of “Love Island USA,” or Olandria Carthen, who moved from the screen to high-fashion circles and A-list events. “Best in Class” flips the script entirely by selecting contestants who already identify as creators and have established their own voices online. These individuals aren’t looking for fame for fame’s sake; they are looking for a platform to scale the businesses they have already started. Instead of starting from zero, they are using the reality competition format as a megaphone to reach new audiences and refine the professional skills they’ve been practicing in their dorm rooms. It turns the reality show into a talent accelerator rather than just a fame generator.
What is your forecast for the future of vertical reality programming?
I expect we will see a massive influx of “micro-reality” series that blur the lines between traditional television production and native social media content. As the revenue for this sector nears that $14 billion mark in 2026, brands will move away from simple 30-second spots and instead invest in becoming the architects of the entertainment itself, much like Xfinity has done here. We will see more “reverse-engineered” fame where specialized creators are brought into these vertical formats to prove their versatility across different niches, from sports to fashion. This format will become the primary scouting ground for major networks, serving as a high-speed laboratory to test which personalities and concepts resonate before they ever commit to a multi-million dollar traditional broadcast. The vertical screen is no longer the “second screen”—it is becoming the main stage for the next generation of entertainment icons.
