Fox Sports 1 (FS1) launched in 2013. The fledgling channel began airing The Herd with Colin Cowherd and Skip and Shannon: Undisputed in 2015 and 2016, respectively. However, its early morning (6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.) time slot, described as a "black hole" by Sporting News, was used to air game replays and reruns of other shows.[5] Meanwhile, Nick Wright, then a local sports radio host based in Houston, began working at Fox Sports. Wright would frequently guest host on The Herd, filling in for Colin Cowherd.[5]
Lacking a morning show, FS1 began planning to launch one.[5] When Cowherd went on vacation in December 2016, then Fox Sports executive Jamie Horowitz had Wright and former NFL wide receiver Cris Carter co-host The Herd, using this as a test of on-air chemistry between the two.[5] At the time, Carter was a new FS1 hire, having previously worked at ESPN.[5] Both he and Wright asked to work together.[5]
FS1 indeed hired Carter and Wright to co-host the channel's morning talk show, which was titled First Things First with Cris Carter and Nick Wright.[2] Shortly after, former Today correspondent Jenna Wolfe was brought on to join Carter and Wright on the show.[6]
The show premiered on September 5, 2017,[2] and featured Carter and Wright debating sports topics, with Wolfe serving as co-host and moderator. Serving as a lead-in for Skip and Shannon: Undisputed, the show was originally placed into FS1's 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. time slot.[7]
Carter last appeared on the show on October 30, 2019.[8] While some sports media outlets reported that Carter and network executives disagreed over him being left off Fox Sport's Thursday Night Football pregame broadcast,[8] neither Carter nor Fox Sports gave a reasoning for his departure.[9] A spokesperson for the network only commented that Carter "is no longer with Fox Sports," without further elaboration.[8][10] Former NFL defensive lineman Chris Canty briefly filled-in for Carter.[10]
Following Carter's departure from the show, Fox Sports looked to pivot First Things First into a "second iteration" that would feature "a loose, free-flowing, conversational format and add a still-to-be-determined fourth talent to the set," in addition to Carter's permanent replacement.[9] In February 2020, television producer and development executive Kevin Wildes was announced to join Wright and Wolfe on the show.[11] In August 2020, former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall was announced as the fourth on-air personality as First Things First fully shifted to a panel format.[12]
Marshall's tenure on the show lasted until August 2021.[13] Later that month, sports media journalist and reporter Chris Broussard was named as an official host. He previously made frequent appearances as an NBA analyst on the show.[14] Wolfe made her final appearance on the show in August 2022.[15]
After Wolfe's departure, the show went on a brief hiatus before it premiered in a new afternoon time slot on September 6, 2022.[16] Former NFL wide receiver Greg Jennings has also appeared on the show as a panelist.[17] In October 2023, Broussard used the r-slur while discussing James Harden's trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Clippers. He apologized for using the term shortly thereafter, though received criticism online from viewers.[18]
In May 2019, the Associated Press reported that viewership for First Things First "increased 30 percent in a year while averaging 61,000 viewers."[19] In November 2023, the show reported that October was its 14th consecutive month double-digit year-over-year growth in viewership.[20] The show's YouTube channel has accumulated over 570 million views, as of January 22, 2024.[21]