The Seven network is battening down the hatches for a counter attack from Nine in the most significant timeslot of the evening: 5.30pm. It’s out of primetime but as Seven has shown in recent years, a good lead-in for the news can set you up for a solid performance through the rest of the night.

The 5.30pm timeslot has traditionally been game show territory. Bert’s Family Feud was tried and found wanting against Seven’s Deal or No Deal, which has helped drive Seven News to national dominance this year (though not so much in Melbourne and Brisbane during the second half of the year — Seven News is battling in Brisbane because Nine’s Brisbane Extra is a strong lead in at 5.30pm).

Nine has been running Antiques Roadshow at 5.30pm since axing Family Feud mid-year and it has been doing as well, if not better, against Deal, which has lost viewers in the past two months.

Now Nine is toying with the idea of running a new game show from the US called The Power of 10 (a CBS program hosted by comedian Drew Carey). It is a bit like Family Feud and Blankety Blanks in that it involves a survey with the most popular response being the correct answer and its selling point is five answers to win $US10 million, though Nine will only offer $1 million.

It’s quick and it has done well for CBS. To run it at 5.30pm, Nine would have to follow what Seven has done with Deal and turn an hour long format into a half hour strip. That’s why the prize money has been reduced.

Seven management knows what Nine is thinking and is concerned, despite what they might say publicly.

Australians went off game shows in 2007. Nine’s Temptation faded badly in the last month of ratings, so The Power of 10 could end up at 7pm, but the more strategic move would be 5.30pm.