Chptr Featured in American Funeral Director: The Next Frontier of Obituary Distribution

Chptr CEO Rehan Choudhry explores why funeral homes need to think beyond newspapers and digital channels to reach the communities they serve.

In the August issue of American Funeral Director, Chptr CEO Rehan Choudhry makes the case for a broader approach to obituary distribution.

For decades, newspapers were the primary way communities learned who had passed away. Today, audiences are spread across television, radio, websites, newsletters, social media, streaming platforms, and mobile devices.

The obituary still matters just as much. The way people discover it has changed.

That shift creates an important opportunity for funeral homes.

Digital tools like memorial websites, Facebook, email, and online guestbooks have expanded access, but they still depend heavily on people already knowing where to look or being connected to the family or funeral home.

Local media helps bridge that gap.

Television, radio, and local news platforms reach people in the places they already turn for community information. That might be the retired teacher watching the evening news, the former coworker checking a local news site, or the church member listening to the radio on the way home.

The goal is not to replace the obituary. It is to extend its reach.

As Rehan writes:
“The obituary itself is not changing. The audience’s behavior already has.”

For funeral homes, that means obituary distribution can no longer be thought of as a single-channel decision.

Technology has made it possible to extend an obituary across local television, radio, websites, newsletters, and social channels through a much simpler workflow than was possible in the past.

The result is broader community awareness, greater visibility for the funeral home, and more opportunities for the people who knew someone to show up for the family.

That is the bigger shift underway in death care. Funeral homes have always been responsible for helping families tell the story. Increasingly, the question is also how far that story can travel.

Read the full article as it appeared in the August issue of American Funeral Director.