At the top of the list: touting FS1’s first ever morning show, which will go head-to-head with Mike Greenberg’s new solo program on ESPN and SportsCenter on ESPN2.

As predicted by Sporting News, Cris Carter and Nick Wright will co-headline the new show, called “First Things First.” Premiering in September before the start of the 2017 NFL season, the show will air from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET and create a lead-in for “Undisputed” with Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe and Joy Taylor (9:30 a.m. to 12 noon ET). 

The odd duo of Carter, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, and Wright, an outspoken former talk radio host, has tested well with focus groups, sources said: “There’s a big brother, little brother vibe.”

FS1 has not decided what it will air between the end of “First Things First” at 9 a.m. and the start of Bayless’ show at 9:30 a.m. ET.

MORE: ESPN shakes up “SportsCenter”

Look for FS1’s “Opinionists” such as Bayless, Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock and Chris Broussard to pop up frequently as “First Things First” tries to carve out an audience in an early-morning time slot, which currently is a black hole of re-runs and soccer telecasts.

During “upfronts,” TV networks tout their stars and programming to advertisers and ad agencies. The goal is to secure advertising dollars in advance of the fall TV season.

During his presentation at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre, Buck will try to set the tone for the coming year. Like him or hate him, Buck is known by every ad buyer in the audience from his multiple roles for Fox’s NFL, MLB and U.S. Open golf coverage. Buck’s presence and star power is meant to send a message to Madison Avenue: Fox, not CBS, NBC or ESPN, is the place to be for sports in 2017.

During the presentation, Buck also is expected to tout the gains of FS1’s “Undisputed” against ESPN’s flagship “SportsCenter” franchise.

On Jan. 3, ESPN moved “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman and Molly Qerim to ESPN from its longtime perch on ESPN2. That enabled Smith to go head-to-head against Bayless, his former sparring partner on “First Take,” which averaged 445,000 viewers from Jan. 3 through April 28, up 12 percent from the same period on ESPN2 the year before.

ESPN says it’s attracting a younger, more diverse audience with the “Embrace Debate” show. The average age of viewers dropped from 42 to 41 in one year. African-American TV viewers now make up 53 percent of the “First Take” audience as opposed to 46 percent last year.

Meanwhile, ESPN still has a big card to play. On Tuesday, the network is expected to announce Mike Greenberg’s long-awaited solo morning show, which will be produced in New York and air on ESPN. The move will break up the long-running partnership of Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN2’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning.” SportsCenter: AM" is expected to move into Mike & Mike’s old TV time slot on ESPN2, while Golic shifts to a radio-only role with Trey Wingo.

But some TV experts would say ESPN robbed Peter to pay Paul by moving “First Take” to ESPN from ESPN2. The absence of the hit debate show, as well as “His & Hers,” which disappeared from its noon time slot when Michael Smith and Jemele Hill moved up to anchor the 6 p.m. SportsCenter, has cratered ESPN2’s ratings. And helped those of FS1.

For the first time ever, Bayless, Sharpe and Taylor’s eight-month old “Undisputed” beat ESPN2’s “SportsCenter” three days head-to-head last week.

The “Sports TV Ratings” site warns ESPN “overreacted” to the new challenge from “Undisputed” by shifting “First Take.”

The Bayless-Sharpe-Taylor show has still managed to steal a third of “First Take” audience. ESPN2, meanwhile, is withering on the vine.

Writes Sports TV Ratings:

Even Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, no fan of Horowitz’ opinion-first philosophy, writes it was “stunning” to see ESPN’s flagship “SportsCenter” franchise beaten by a new show like “Undisputed.”

Wrote Deitsch: