About Us

Founded in 2015, Progressive TV (PTV) is an independent media organisation, created specifically to try and help provide an alternative television platform in order to build greater awareness and understanding of the social issues, challenges and achievements in communities across the UK.

The three directors, Chester Yang, Marcus Relton and Ian Noah all met whilst part of the management committee of the Writers, Producers and Directors branch of BECTU, the national trade union for the media and entertainment industries.

We seek to help promote progressive views and values to challenge the existing bias in mainstream media that maintains and promotes the narrow interests of a privileged minority. Based on our belief in the important roles that media and information channels play in informing and changing opinions, our aim is to provide deeper media and content solutions that connect socially-conscious filmmakers and content providers with fresh audiences. (You can read our manfesto here.)

We are a social enterprise, registered in the UK as a company limited by guarantee, and self-organised as a co-operative. At present, our primary focus is the development of the structure and programming content for a new type of democratic, distributed, collectively owned and managed, television platform - Deepview TV.

Chester Yang

Chester is a London-based filmmaker and graduate of the National Film and Television School with over 14 years of filmmaking experience.

Born in a small village in Sierra Leone, he grew up under several gangster dictatorship regimes and surrounded by the bloody turmoil of civil war. In 1996 he fled to England in search of democracy, and this passion led him to dedicate his life to telling the untold stories, to providing a unique voice for those underprivileged or segregated within society, and to entertain and inspire.

Chester has always had a close relationship with radical filmmakers and campaigning organisations. Having created a rich catalogue of broadcast and film festival shorts, features and documentaries and with ongoing work on new film projects, Chester is currently in development on new feature films and projects. 

Ian Noah

Ian is a media consultant, with a background that includes design, documentary filmmaking, corporate television and digital media projects. Apart from independent documentary and drama projects, his major interest lies in developing digital 'cultural communities of shared knowledge'. His interdisciplinary interests, professional background and experience have led him to work with government departments, the corporate sector and voluntary organisations in the UK, Europe and West Africa.

Ian's goal in overseeing the development of Deepview, is to demonstrate the possibilities of a co-operatively managed, self-sustaining television platform for the benefit of society, that can not only help influence social change, but can also be copied and utilised by other communities around the world.

Marcus Relton

Marcus is a documentary and current affairs filmmaker, who has worked as a researcher, associate producer and co-director for TV and directed, produced, researched and shot independent documentaries beyond broadcast.

He is also a long-standing trade union activist with years of experience fighting for the rights of workers and the marginialised. He is a member of BECTU and has served on their Writers, Producers and Directors Committee since 2001, including two years as secretary. He is also on BECTU's Film Policy Committee and Copyright Working Group and has served on its London Production Division Committee. In addition, Marcus is also a member of the NUJ and was Father of Chapel at two London newspapers as well as Secretary and Chair of the Greater London Newspapers Branch.