"Blackout" debuted at 10:00 AM on January 4, 1988 and took the place of "The $25,000 Pyramid", which had been cancelled by CBS after five and a half seasons. "Blackout" never managed to find an audience, however. NBC's "Sale of the Century" routinely beat it in the ratings, and "Blackout" did not perform as well as "Pyramid" had in the slot. CBS, unsatisfied with the performance, decided to move in another direction. "Blackout" was cancelled following its initial sixty-five episode order, which ended on April 1, 1988, and the network began working on a revival of "Family Feud" which would launch later in the year. "Blackout"'s temporary replacement was its predecessor, as "The $25,000 Pyramid" was brought back for a final run of sixty-five episodes while "Family Feud" was waiting to debut; "Pyramid" aired its final episode on CBS on July 1, 1988 and was replaced by "Family Feud" the following Monday.