KTVs, meaning karaoke television, are popular forms of entertainment in the east area of Asia, including the Philippines. They are very much widespread from Taiwan to China, South Korea to Hongkong, and Japan to the Philippines. That only proves how Filipinos and Asians by and large love to sing.
KTVs are also called karaoke bars, karaoke lounges, and karaoke boxes. It is usually a bar featuring small private rooms with karaoke equipments. The exclusive rooms can be rented for a specific time and can accommodate a certain number of people for their singing amusement. These KTVs also offer food and drinks along with other services. KTVs can have a minimum of ten to twenty rooms to a maximum of hundreds of rooms for large-scale karaoke bars.
KTV is usually the term used in Taiwan and China. In the Philippines, it is commonly called a videoke bar. In Hongkong and Japan, it’s called karaoke box and in South Korea, they call it Noraebang meaning song (norae) room (bang).
Usually in these Asian countries, businessmen and corporate people go to KTVs after work to release their stress. Or in certain occasions, they go to karaoke bars to strike business deals, besides the usual choice of setting like in a restaurant or a hotel. KTVs are also frequented by the youth customers, especially groups of friends who enjoy singing and having fun. KTV also is a place for family fun, serving as a venue of entertainment for the whole family. In the Philippines, there are a lot of FAMILY KTVs existing in different areas all over the country.
But KTVs are not only found in Asia. Though in the Western countries karaoke is not common, in New York and San Francisco Bay Area, KTVs have become popular since the last decade. Of course, the presence of Asians in these places makes way for more KTVs in the US, where Asian communities open up karaoke bars for their fellow lovers of karaoke and of course of singing.