Is Nickelodeon going to give rival Disney the brush off at Kids’ Choice Awards?

It may be just kids’ television. But it’s not child’s play.

The annual Kids’ Choice Awards show on Nickelodeon, an ostensible celebration of the most popular children’s programming on television, has turned into a sandbox spat between two media giants vying for supremacy in the world of kids’ TV, the Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc., owner of Nickelodeon.

Nickelodeon this week informed programming rival Disney Channel that only a handful of its biggest stars would be permitted to walk the ceremonial orange carpet, pose for photos and grant interviews during “Nickelodeon’s 23rd Annual Kids’ Choice Awards” on Saturday at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. Although individual nominees such as Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers can still participate, others have been elbowed out of the spotlight.

Actors who appear in Disney Channel shows nominated for best TV show, including the male lead of “Sonny With a Chance,” Sterling Knight, and “Wizards of Waverly Place” gal-pal Jennifer Stone, will have to file through the doorway with the thousands of other ordinary guests attending the event. Some Disney Channel performers from these same shows have been excluded altogether.

By contrast, at least 25 from Nickelodeon’s roster will get the full star treatment, including ensemble cast members from shows that didn’t garner a nod, such as “The Troop” and “True Jackson, VP.”

Publicists for Disney’s young talent are indignant at the perceived slight. A Nickelodeon spokeswoman chafed at the suggestion that it was snubbing its competitor, noting the network was making room on the orange carpet for eight of Disney Channel’s teen luminaries, some of whom are expected to win the show’s distinctive orange blimp trophy.

“Anyone who has watched the Kids’ Choice Awards over the past 22 years knows that there’s absolutely no merit,” she said, to claims that Nickelodeon is brushing Disney stars off the carpet.

The tempest is reflective of the rising profile of the Kids’ Choice Awards, which last year attracted 7.7 million viewers in the U.S., according to Nielsen Research. Nickelodeon expects this year’s live telecast to reach more than 300 million households worldwide.

In a tacit acknowledgment of the show’s promotional power, even grown-up actors now jockey for a spot on the program and a chance to get “slimed” -- splashed with the green goo that is a hallmark of the network. This year’s presenters include actors Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey, teen pop sensation Justin Bieber and Olympic medalists Shaun White and Apolo Ohno. Unlike the Oscars, the Emmys or the Grammys, whose winners are chosen by industry professionals, the Kids’ Choice Awards reflect the tastes of viewers who cast their ballots on the Nickelodeon website. A record 91 million votes were tallied last year.

Children’s television has become a financial cornerstone for Disney and Viacom in recent years, inspiring movies and fanning licensed merchandise and music sales. Along the way, young viewers have switched in droves from watching the broadcast networks to viewing the cable channels, which have turned young actors such as Gomez, Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron into major stars and brands.

The stakes are not kid stuff. Disney Channel had revenue of $1.2 billion last year, while Nickelodeon pulled in $1.9 billion, according to estimates by Nielsen’s SNL Kagan research firm. With each chasing the same viewers, the two cable networks have traded the top-rated shows appealing to the lucrative 9-to-14-year-old “tween” audience, who influence an estimated $45 billion in spending.

Such rivalry hasn’t always been so intense. Disney Channel was once a programming backwater that posed little threat. But that was before former Nickelodeon veterans Anne Sweeney and Rich Ross jumped to Disney and spearheaded a turnaround of Disney Channel in the late 1990s, leading to the launch of shows that entered the cultural zeitgeist, including “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical.”

Disney Channel’s stable of celebrities is vexing for Nickelodeon, which recognizes that stars like Cyrus draw an audience to the Kids’ Choice Awards, even though broadcasting her acceptance speech last year arguably fanned the popularity of “Hannah Montana” on behalf of a rival.

“It would make sense that Nickelodeon would want to use Miley, because she has a much broader appeal than just Disney now, and it obviously helps to bring eyes to Nickelodeon,” said Robin Reinhardt-Locke, a talent consultant and former executive at Viacom’s MTV Networks. “But to focus on Disney shows that have a smaller following -- I would assume Nickelodeon deems that more servicing to Disney than to Nickelodeon and the awards show.”

That tension is reflected in which Disney Channel celebrities get valuable air time on the award show. In 2003, Hilary Duff’s television show “Lizzie McGuire” won top TV honors -- but the award wasn’t televised. The same thing happened to Dylan Sprouse last year, when he won favorite television actor for his role on “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”

One person associated with the show who would not talk publicly said that not all stars can get air time because producers need to make cuts to squeeze awards from 19 categories, including cutest couple and best song, into 90 minutes.

“We advise our young talent to not take any perceived slight personally and instead focus on their accomplishments and their fans’ appreciation and support,” Disney Channel said in a statement. “All of us at Disney Channel are truly honored by the recognition from kid viewers.”

Nickelodeon won’t be shy either about training the promotional spotlight on its own talent and that of corporate sibling Paramount Pictures, whose upcoming release “The Last Airbender” will be represented on the orange carpet by director M. Night Shyamalan and four stars from the movie. Even emerging Nick actors will be able to mug for the cameras. At least seven stars from the network’s show “Big Time Rush” will walk the carpet, as will six actors from “True Jackson, VP,” their publicists said. A dozen actors from the Nick shows “iCarly,” “Victorious,” “BrainSurge,” and “The Troop” will also get the honor.

That’s not the case for cast members on Disney shows like “Sonny With a Chance” and “The Suite Life on Deck,” whose costars Tiffany Thornton and Debby Ryan, respectively, will bypass the cameras on the way to their seats.

Michael Russell, who has handled public relations for the Golden Globe Awards for the last 17 years, said award shows should be concerned with trying to attract big celebrities -- no matter their affiliation. “The bread and butter of the award shows are celebrities, and normally the celebrities attending come from a variety of networks,” Russell said. “It’s very rare that an awards show would exclude celebrities from a competitor.”

dawn.chmielewski@latimes .com

amy.kaufman@latimes.com