Editing Match Game (section)

===Staffing and ratings===
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The 1973–82 versions were produced by veteran Goodson–Todman producer [[Ira Skutch]], who also wrote some questions and acted as the on-stage judge. Marc Breslow directed while Robert Sherman was associate producer and head writer.

When CBS revamped ''Match Game'' in 1973 with more of a focus on risqué humor, ratings more than doubled in comparison with the NBC incarnation. Within three months, ''Match Game '73'' was the most-watched program on daytime television. By summer 1974, it grew into an absolute phenomenon with high school students and housewives, scoring remarkable ratings among the 12–34 age demographic. The best ratings this version of ''Match Game'' saw were in the 1975–76 season when it drew a 12.5 rating with a 35 share, higher numbers than that of some prime-time series. It surpassed records as the most popular daytime program ever with a record 11 million daily viewers, one that held until the "[[Luke Spencer and Laura Webber|Luke and Laura]]" [[supercouple]] storyline gripped viewers on ABC's ''[[General Hospital]]'' some years later.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}

Every New Year's Eve, when the two-digit year designation in the ''Match Game'' sign was updated, there was a New Year's party with the cast and studio audience. Up to and including the 1977–78 changeover, a new sign was built each year. Coinciding with a redesign of the set, a new sign was built with interchangeable digits that could be swapped as the years changed. Additionally, this sign allowed for a "PM" logo to be attached for tapings of the syndicated program instead of using an entirely different sign. Charles Nelson Reilly swapped out the "78" portion of the sign and installed the new "79" on-air, to the playing of "[[Auld Lang Syne]]" and wished the audience a happy new year.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtvkwovxS2w | title=Charles Nelson Reilly changing the sign HIMSELF! 1978 Match Game &#124;BUZZR | website=[[YouTube]] | date=December 31, 2020 }}</ref>

In 1976, the show's success, and celebrity panelist Richard Dawson's popularity, prompted Goodson–Todman to develop a new show for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], titled ''[[Family Feud]],'' with Dawson hosting. This show became a major hit in its own right, eventually surpassing the parent program. ''Family Feud'' was said to be based on Dawson's expertise in the audience match segment of ''Match Game''.

Meanwhile, ''Match Game'' kept its high standing in the ratings despite a short-lived move ahead one half-hour from August to December 1975. In November 1977, however, CBS made a fatal mistake regarding the show's time slot. Taking note of a ratings boon that resulted when ''The Price Is Right'' and ''Match Game'' were paired in afternoons, a major hole in the schedule had developed in the morning slot that ''The Price Is Right'' had left behind. In an attempt to resolve the crisis, CBS moved ''Match Game'' to 11:00&nbsp;a.m., immediately following ''The Price Is Right'' at 10:00&nbsp;a.m. However, because much of ''Match Game''{{'}}s audience was composed of students who were in school at that time of day, ratings began to sag and eventually free fall; many of these students did not return. As a result, ''Family Feud'' quickly supplanted ''Match Game'' as television's highest-rated game show.

CBS attempted to correct the problem on December 12, 1977, with a scheduling shuffle among ''Match,'' ''Price,'' and ''[[Tattletales]].'' However, in a move that turned out to do even more damage, the network moved ''Match Game'' to its 1960s time slot of 4:00&nbsp;p.m., a time slot which, by this point, many local stations were preempting in favor of local or syndicated programming. As a result, ''Match Game'' was unable to get the audience it once did in the 1960s at 4:00.