Nickelodeon

Everyone knows who Hannah Montana is. But perhaps only kids know she's been unseated as TV's reigning tween queen by one Carly Shay. When no one was looking, Carly, the plucky 15-year-old star of the Nickelodeon comedy "iCarly," overtook Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" -- and this year, "American Idol" -- in the ratings race for young audiences. Miranda Cosgrove, who plays Carly, is still a name that draws quizzical looks while Miley Cyrus sells out Cineplexes and concert stadiums.

Michael Eisner is taking a road trip back to TV family land with a gung-ho dentist and some new pals at Nickelodeon. Through his private investment firm, Tornante Co., Eisner plans to announce today that he has sold his first animated series, "Glenn Martin DDS," to the Viacom Inc.-owned cable channel. The program, about a dentist who takes his family on a road trip across the country, is expected to debut next summer.

Square and loud, SpongeBob wasn't supposed to have much chance for success in Japan, a nation known for its love of more cuddly characters such as Hello Kitty and Pikachu. But the perky, bucktoothed American cartoon character is proving the skeptics wrong. SpongeBob SquarePants attracts nearly 1.9 million Japanese households to his TV show daily and is raking in a growing share of the $5 billion in annual retail sales for Nickelodeon, the Viacom Inc. unit behind the show.

It's official: Justin Timberlake is all grown up -- or at least he's no longer worried about proving it. Timberlake is host of the 20th annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday, a first-time gig about as far removed as you can get from his glowering (and well-reviewed) drug-dealer role in the film "Alpha Dog" last year. But in a way, "Alpha Dog" set the stage for Timberlake to emcee the nutty awards show for tykes.

THE 20th anniversary of the Kids' Choice Awards was, as advertised, an affair completely drenched in great green goo. Slime gurgled out of the walls and gushed out of the ground. "Surprised" celebrities were doused in it and one nutty stuntman even risked life and limb by bungee-jumping into a vat of it. How on earth will the franchise top itself next year? Well, the show will be 21, so maybe they'll just start legally drinking the stuff.

Nickelodeon is teaming up with Marriott International Inc. on a chain of kid-friendly resort hotels that will feature elaborate water parks and live entertainment from SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer and other stars of the cable TV channel. The first hotel, set to break ground in January and open in early 2010, will be a 650-room facility with a 100,000-square-foot water park in San Diego's Liberty Station, former home of the Naval Training Center, Viacom Inc.

Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon cable network plans to stop allowing the use of its characters for packaging on junk food to address concerns about children's health. "The use of our licensed characters on food packaging will be limited to products that meet 'better for you' criteria as established by marketing partners in accordance with governmental dietary guidelines," Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami wrote in a letter to Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

Atop the Nickelodeon studios in Burbank is a larger-than-life cavalcade of the cable network's signature animated characters. SpongeBob SquarePants is up there. So is Dora the Explorer, as well as a handful of others. Joining them soon, hope the network's executives, will be Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private -- the raucously comic penguins from the DreamWorks Animation film "Madagascar." Thanks to their Viacom Inc.

Nickelodeon is considering a special for its young audience about sex and love following the news that 16-year-old "Zoey 101" star Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. The television network has made no announcement about the future of "Zoey 101," its popular program aimed primarily at youngsters aged 9 to 14. Filming for the show's fourth season has finished, and episodes are scheduled to begin airing in February.

Starting today, everyone's Noggin is going to get a whole lot bigger. The commercial-free cable network aimed at preschoolers, with shows such as "Jack's Big Music Show," "Oobi" and "The Upside Down Show," expands from 12 to 24 hours. Simultaneously, the teen-oriented network the N, home of the popular "Degrassi: The Next Generation," also will expand from a 12-hour schedule to 24 hours.