News media grapples with declining obits revenue

William Villanova, president of Frank E. Campbell – The Funeral Chapel in New York City, and a funeral director for more than 30 years, said he has seen families shorten obituaries, choose fewer places to publish them, or skip newspaper publication altogether because of cost or perceived limited value.

When a family shortens an obituary, the details they remove are often the ones that tell you who the person really was. Sometimes it simply reflects what the family was able or willing to spend.”

William Villanova

The end-of-life market is growing; however, the newspaper obituary business is moving in the opposite direction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded more than 3 million U.S. deaths in 2024, while the National Funeral Directors Association projects annual deaths will reach approximately 3.91 million by 2045. Yet Legacy.com, which works with newspaper publishers and funeral homes, reports obituary placement volume has declined by about 10% annually for the past eight years.

“Obituaries remain one of the few user-generated, paid content categories that consistently attract loyal readers — a rare and valuable combination for any publisher today,” said Ron Speechley, vice president of sales at Legacy.com.

Legacy.com estimates that, outside select markets where population age and local tradition sustain newspaper placements, most newspapers capture less than 30% of the local obituaries that appear on funeral-home websites.

That percentage varies across the country. A 2026 study of 135 weekly newspaper leaders by Hannah Artman, postdoctoral research fellow in local news at the Missouri School of Journalism, and co-author Nick Mathews, assistant professor, found 53% reported steady obituary volume, while 26% reported recent declines.

The Missouri study found 88% of weekly newspapers surveyed charge for obituaries, yet at 80% of the papers, obituary revenue represents less than 5% of total income.

“For papers that charge, obituaries — like every other aspect of a newspaper’s business model — are crucial to their survival,” Artman said. Her estimates put obituary revenue at roughly 3% to 5%. At one midsize newspaper, that amounted to about $17,000.

One participating publisher asked, “Where else would we find $17,000?”

Dedicated obituary staff were rare among the weeklies Artman studied. Instead, the work was generally folded into existing newspaper routines, often aided by relationships with local funeral homes.

Families, meanwhile, increasingly have alternatives — often free ones.

William Villanova, president of Frank E. Campbell – The Funeral Chapel in New York City, and a funeral director for more than 30 years, said he has seen families shorten obituaries, choose fewer places to publish them, or skip newspaper publication altogether because of cost or perceived limited value.

“When a family shortens an obituary, the details they remove are often the ones that tell you who the person really was,” Villanova said. “Sometimes it simply reflects what the family was able or willing to spend.”

Newspapers face stiff competition

Price is one challenge. Convenience is another. Legacy.com’s data show 42% of obituaries are placed outside regular business hours. “The greatest opportunity is self-serve technology that makes placing an obituary anytime frictionless and convenient for both the funeral home and the family,” said Ernie Roth, general manager of channel partners at Legacy.com.

Some publishers are also testing alternatives to traditional per-line or per-obituary pricing, including flat monthly rates for funeral homes.

Hannah Artman is a postdoctoral research fellow in local news at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

Artman’s research found weeklies that were experimenting in other ways: offering free death notices, putting digital obituaries outside paywalls, and distributing them through newsletters and social media.

The stakes aren’t purely financial. Eighty-nine percent of weekly newspaper leaders in the Missouri study considered obituaries an essential connection to their communities, and 73% said they are a key reason readers subscribe to or purchase the newspaper.

For many families, Villanova said a newspaper obituary offers “a sense of permanence, tradition and legitimacy.”

The obituary isn’t disappearing. What is disappearing is the newspaper’s assurance that it will be the place where the obituary lives on.

Taayoo Murray is a New York City-based journalist who covers health, wellness and parenting. She is the founder of The Care Capitalist, which convenes off-the-record rooms to think through healthcare’s hardest questions. She welcomes emails at taayoo_murray@yahoo.com.