The television industry is focusing a great deal of attention on millennials these days. Billions of dollars are in play, along with the reputations of industry executives who view this vast, diverse generation — generally defined as those born between 1977 and 1995 — as the hot consumers of choice in a bewilderingly changing business.

It is as if the companies are throwing a bunch of money at the millennial wall, hoping some of it sticks. Verizon Communications and Hearst have teamed up to produce two new multiplatform online video channels, one aimed at “millennials from the heartland,” whoever those are. Condé Nast Entertainment has come up with a demographic called the “cultured millennial,” whose members apparently prefer artisanal beer to kegs. Unveiling its new streaming service, HBONow, HBO said it would be a heat-seeking “millennial missile.”

But what, as Freud might have asked if he lived in America in 2016, do millennials want? Does anyone really know? Is it fair to lump together a group of people ages 21 to 39? I was curious. I decided to conduct my own nonscientific study of millennials and their attitudes toward television.

It is not hard to find a millennial; there are 79.8 million in the United States. At the Brooklyn Roasting Company’s branch in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, for instance, I found one right there at the counter, arguing with the barista about what “refill” means. He was not free to talk, but Rob Szypko, 25, who was looking up stuff on his laptop, had a moment. He took off his headphones.