The show originated in Cleveland and is now taped by Mills James Productions in Columbus, Ohio.

However, slumping ticket sales and poor ratings prompted the return of the Cash Explosion format a year later, on October 6, 2007, and it has remained on the air since.

Cash Explosion is the longest-running state lottery based game show, surpassing California's The Big Spin, which ended its run on January 10, 2009, after 23 years and 1,213 episodes.

As of 2016, Cash Explosion is the only weekly lottery game show airing in the United States.

[2] Bob Grossi (then a weather anchor at WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio) was the original host, and was replaced in 1988 by Cleveland radio personality Paul Tapié.

Michelle Duda and Leilani Barrett took over as hosts in February 2004, and remained through the end of the first run.

Regular lottery drawing hosts Karen Harris and Bob Becker (deceased) substituted on various occasions.

Beneatha Barkley joined the lottery host rotation in April 2003 which lasted until October in which she was replaced by Karen Kawolics.

Following the 30th Anniversary Special, Alissa Henry (a reporter with WSYX-TV in Columbus) became the new co-host (alongside McCreary), replacing both Bicknell and McClain which both move to rotating lottery drawing hosts.

Seven contestants, each of whom submitted a Cash Explosion scratchcard ticket with three matching "ENTRY" symbols, competed in a race to reach the top of an eleven-step pyramid in order to win $50,000.

Reaching the goal augmented the contestant's total to $50,000, while the others could keep their cash or trade it away for a spin of the wheel in the second round.

The contestants who had not been eliminated during the course of the game, whether by choice (with the bonus squares) or by penalty, were eligible to trade their winnings and spin a wheel containing various amounts of cash (originally cash and prizes from a differently-built wheel).

Under this rule, the show gained national coverage in August 1990 when contestant Pamela Richards turned down a $17,600 Honda Accord because she was a member of a labor union.

She at the time worked at Toledo Precision Machining, a Chrysler Corporation subsidiary plant of Risingsun, for 23 years before appearing on the show.

Every time a contestant hit a double square, as before, he or she received an extra turn.

From 1993–2009, the three contestants' names were each hidden three times behind a game board with nine squares total.

Champions can remain on the show until defeated, with no monetary limits or maximum number of appearances, mirroring Jeopardy!

Under this format, the highest amount awarded was $520,000, which was reached by Terri Waddell on the October 20, 2012 episode, when she was defeated during her record-breaking seventh appearance on the show.

As part of the 30th Anniversary season leading up to the XL format, bonus prizes such as vacations, laptops, and gasoline for a year are available under one square in each round.

Starting June 3, 2017 and lasting throughout the summer, as part of the 30th Anniversary Celebration, the show modified its format and briefly renamed itself Cash Explosion XL.

One of the co-hosts (Sharon, Cherie, or David) will bring out a silver or golden bar with the amount written on it to represent the bonus money.

The two contestants with the highest totals have their banks doubled and advance to the Cash Challenge championship round.

If a contestant reveals a double tile, he or she then selects a letter in the word "spotlight", which is positioned above their game board.

On the board are sixteen tiles, each labeled with the name of one of the top Ohio Lottery games (including the C.E.

In the later section, a Second Chance round is used to determine a fourth contestant in the Cash Challenge.

If a player finds a double or triple tile, his/her game board transforms into a multiplier board which the player selects one of nine money related terms (Coins, Bank, Purse, Safe, Cash, Gold, Diamond, Money Tree, and Piggy Bank).

Once the double/triple and bonus tiles are found, the game board returns to its normal configuration.

The Second Chance and Cash Challenge remain the same as the previous format, but if a player has more than $40,000+ in total, they will play for $75,000 instead of $50,000.

However, due to disappointing ratings for that program, the Ohio Lottery announced the show would be replaced by a new version of Cash Explosion on October 6, 2007.