Great! TV online has brought even more repeats of Only Fools and Horses.

Not long ago I wrote a blog imagining what Shropshire Star TV would be like. Well, it looks like it could be here sooner than you think.

Our chums in the Conservative Party are to unveil a report on how low cost local news could be brought to local people.

It appears that when the switchover from analogue to digital television is completed in the next few years, there will be room for 81 local television channels.

The report’s author recommends giving reporters digital cameras to produce local news – a bit like the videos and bulletins you can already see on Shropshirestar.com, only on the telly instead.

With ITV facing a financial crisis and either threatening to opt out of local news, or expanding the regions so much that your area can cover hundreds of square miles, this is an interesting proposal.

It’s also cheap. According to today’s Daily Telegraph it currently costs £10,000 to produce an hour of local TV news; using digital cameras and cheaper technology a local TV news channel could do the same job for £1,000 an hour. And it wouldn’t receive any cash from the licence fee.

Roger Parry, the report’s author, said: “Why does Birmingham Alabama have eight local TV stations when Birmingham in the UK – four times the size – has none?”

A good point, and one which raises several issues about cost and quality. Simply offering people more channels doesn’t necessarily mean they’re getting something better (as anyone with a Freeview box and access to ITVs 2 and 3 and Virgin will attest).

How will these channels look, like ITV or like Live! TV? And surely 80 local TV channels will struggle to find an audience? Would one channel end up swallowing its struggling rivals? Would the broadcasters resort to sensationalism in order to attract an audience?

Meanwhile, is the further fragmentation of our television industry something to be welcomed?

Still, if it works, if the necessary quality controls in terms of journalism and production can be applied, then this may well be the Brave New World we’re entering.

Imagine being able to tune in to Shropshire Star TV to get the latest headlines and reports.

It’s going to be an interesting couple of years.

Andrew – I’ve got an autocue and I’m prepared to use it – Owen