Sara Alessi

LOS ANGELES: MarVista Entertainment has strengthened its executive team, appointing Esquire Network alum Deena Stern as the senior VP of marketing and communications and naming former Lionsgate exec Kenny Christmas senior VP of business and legal affairs.

BURBANK: Industry veteran Jamila Hunter has been elevated to the post of senior VP of ABC Comedy at ABC Entertainment.

UNIVERSAL CITY: Simon Cowell has signed on to serve as a judge for NBC’s America's Got Talent for three additional years through 2019.

LOS ANGELES: Rive Gauche Television has sold hundreds of hours of content from its catalog, including the factual series Droned, ahead of MIPCOM.

UNIVERSAL CITY: Following the success of Little Big Shots, NBC has commissioned Little Big Shots: Forever Young, executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres and Steve Harvey, who will also serve as host.

NEW YORK: VH1 and Freeform have acquired the first five seasons of The Mindy Project from NBCUniversal’s Universal Television.

BURBANK: Freeform has greenlit development for a late-night series featuring comedian Iliza Shlesinger.

NEW YORK: A+E Networks’ channel portfolio is due to roll out on the new AT&T streaming service DIRECTV NOW, which will debut in the fourth quarter of 2016.

LOS ANGELES: Showtime has renewed the comedy series Dice for a second season that is due to air in 2017.

NEW YORK: NBCUniversal has renewed and expanded its long-term agreement with AT&T to extend its portfolio of networks across all AT&T DIRECTV products.