German service provider Sattechnik Andreas Paetz has acquired Receiver Automatic Programming System (RAPS), a service automatically updating the TV and radio channel listings in satellite receivers, from Velipa GmbH.
Financial details were not disclosed. Andreas Paetz has been responsible for providing the channel list updates since the foundation of RAPS in 2004. “Everything comes from one source now,” company owner Andreas Paetz describes the advantage of taking over the RAPS operation.
The channel listings will continue to be downloaded into the receivers automatically via satellite. RAPS currently covers the satellite systems Astra (19.2° East) and Hotbird (13° East). “In early December 2016, Türksat (42° East) and the Astra position 23.5° East will be added,” announced Paetz. “This will make RAPS more valuable and attractive for manufacturers and customers.”
RAPS is available on satellite receivers from Smart, Avanit, Gecco, Wisi and Hirschmann and other manufacturers. The integration into further brands is planned. “Manufacturers of set-top-boxes and TV sets wanting to spare their customers the tedious task of manually updating the channel listings are invited to contact us,” said Paetz.
The updates are free of charge for the viewers as the service is included in the receiver’s purchase price.
The channel listing can be configured according to the viewer’s country, for example Germany, Austria and Switzerland, resulting in ARD, ORF or SRG being placed first. During the initial installation taking around two minutes the favoured regional public channel can be selected for slot 3, call TV and erotic channels can be removed from the list permanently and subscribed pay-TV packages can be added.
This ensures that the list only contains channels the user can actually receive and wants to watch.
