Latinos are the most valuable segment of TV watchers in the millennial generation, findings from a new study indicate.

As we previously reported, the Hispanic Millennial Project (HMP) is a massive five-part study co-produced by market researcher ThinkNow and ad agency Sensis.

Part five, "Wave 5: Entertainment," was just released, taking a cross-cultural look at millennials and their interaction with media and technology. In it, we found some interesting facets of millennial Latinos that make them a uniquely valuable group of TV watchers. The small-screen entertainment and pay TV industries should take note.

Latino Millennials' Big Influence in TV

Simply going by the numbers, millennial Latinos hold a lot of clout in the entertainment marketplace.

HMP's new study has Latino millennials being the second largest Hispanic demographic in the U.S., accounting for 27 percent, as well as accounting for over a fifth (21 percent) of all millennials living in the U.S.

And while non-Hispanic white millennials still drive the box office, with an even third having watched a movie in a theater in the past six months, Latino millennials are right behind them, with 30 percent reporting the same.

But when it comes to TV, millennial Latinos are by far the main driver of the most valuable kind of activity: watching it live.

Of all the millennial groups (White, Black, Latino, and Asian-American) studied by HMP, Latinos were the most likely to watch live television sometimes, and also as a regular habit.

Two thirds of millennials Latinos have count live network TV in their entertainment options, while 40 percent describe watching a show while it airs as the most likely way they would watch any TV.

Though it's becoming rare, getting people to watch TV live, when it airs, is still the ideal goal of the entire entertainment industry, whether it's the producers of TV shows, the networks, or the industries that provide television services. Live watchers are the top drivers of ratings, social media buzz, word of mouth, and of course, advertising.

But live watching is not the only option these days, and the Internet is growing with streaming services, over-the-top television subscription services, and other ways to view small-screen entertainment.

And Hispanic Millennials are voracious consumers of streaming Internet content. HMP discovered the top reason why (once again, TV industry, take note): Latinos are more likely than any other group (at 46 percent) to watch something online if that's the only place they can find a show.

Latinos Have Nuanced TV Preferences:

While pure numbers drive the battle for more diversity in the workplace, Latinos hold unique, nuanced views of why certain TV content appeals to them. They also have particular ideas about how they want it delivered.

For Content

First, young Latinos are more likely than most millennials, besides Asian-Americans (64 percent), to consider their cultural heritage as an influence on their decisions of what shows to watch, with 60 percent responding it is somewhat or a big influence.

But when asked if representation of their ethnicity in a given show makes a difference in their interest in watching it, Latinos were much more likely than either Asian-Americans or African-Americans to say it didn't matter.

Only 45 percent answered it would make them more interested if a new TV show had actors with Latino backgrounds, and the majority (51 percent) said it wouldn't make a difference. HMP found that, unlike other minority millennial groups, it was themes and stories that resonated the most with Latinos rather than the diversity count.

Yet at the same time, a large amount of millennial Latinos are interested in bilingual programming. While 44 percent say they watch TV most often in English, or mostly English, HMP found that 35 percent preferred programming in both Spanish and English equally.

And 23 percent said that the availability of Spanish-language programming was why they see themselves committing to pay TV rather than going online streaming only.

And Delivery

Speaking of being especially valuable to pay television providers, Hispanic Millennials were also the most likely to see themselves using cable or satellite and online streaming equally in the next few years (31 percent), contradicting the well known millennial trend of cutting the cord.

However remarkably loyal to pay TV millennial Latinos may be, they are also likely to challenge the current bundle model more than any other millennial group studied by HMP.

A full 42 percent would subscribe to cable or satellite if the mass bundle disappeared, the choices were customizable, and the price was right. And within that Hispanic millennial group, that answer rises to a full 56 percent when only taking foreign-born Latinos.

The Takeaway

Millennial Latinos are obviously an important group for marketers, advertisers, and the entertainment industry to understand. And as the industry tries to influence and entice millennial Latinos, millennial Latinos are going to influence the industry.

But the HMP study shows that the standard check-box approach to gaining their attention, their time, and their dollars won't work the way it does for other market segments. Understanding that is a great place to start.

Check out the Hispanic Millennial Project's report for more details on millennial Latinos, movies, music, and how they compare with their cohorts.