Is your funeral home “Streaming” yet?

September 24, 2025/Business, Preneed/

Okay — that headline is somewhat of a trick question. I’m guessing that your funeral home is “streaming” services. . . . . but, are you “streaming” in your advertising and branding strategy?

As of March 2025 “streaming” represented 43.8% of overall TV watch time in the United States. And, it is something that has caught my attention.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

My wife, Angie, and I would sit in a perfect sub-set of ages and income levels of who funeral homes and cremation providers would want to reach via advertising. And, we do see some attempts to reach us — most often by mailings from the local funeral home providers inviting us to a seminar on preneed. . . . .and, once in a while on Facebook. — But we are not big social media consumers so those attempts miss us more often than not. Matter of fact, I am really only on Facebook to check that Funeral Director Daily is hitting that medium daily and Angie says she cannot believe most of what she reads on Facebook so she just stays off of it.

However, we are also in the perfect sub-set of people who have watched television via cable TV for the past 50 years. Now, however, we have seen a change in the landscape, both in costs and access, to the television programs we want to watch. And while we haven’t dissed our cable TV yet, we have added more and more streaming options to our mix of viewing. . . . . and, the channels we choose, and the programs we watch, are a discussion point when we are with our friends.

That’s what is behind my interest in viewer options that I’ve now learned are described in their own vocabulary — that of CTV or “Connected TV”. Turns out that that 43.8% of television watched via streaming is an increase of over 10% in only the past two years. There is no doubt as this article from Nielsen titled “Connected TV is transforming advertising” states “CTV—encompassing devices like smart televisions, streaming media players and gaming consoles—is fundamentally reshaping how we access and engage with video content.”

Here’s a couple other quotes (with a little addition from me) from that article that may be of interest to you:

“. . . .a substantial 56% of marketers globally report planning to increase their spending on over-the-top (OTT)/CTV in 2025”

“CTV stands out as one of the few digital channels where planned spending increases have grown year-over-year, with the most significant growth concentrated in the Americas.”

“The channel offers brands (or funeral homes) the chance to connect with specific demographic and audience segments based on their viewing patterns, demographic profiles and declared interests. This improved targeting can help marketers more efficiently allocate advertising budgets and drive potentially higher returns on investment from television campaigns.”

And, according to this article from AOL.com. Amazon’s entry with their advertiser-supported Prime Video channel has disrupted the streaming advertising medium and reduced the costs to advertise on the various streaming channels available. It reminds me of the original disruption by cable TV on Broadcast TV when one was able to choose a specific, demographically advantaged for your product, cable channel to advertise on instead of the high-priced broadcast channels. . . . . and that “cable channel demographic focus” was very good for us with preneed advertising back in the 1990’s — both in terms of audience and price.

I would suspect that the proper demographic streaming channel, or program, for your funeral home could be a very cost efficient method of delivering your message in a “dynamic” format to potential client families.

According to the AOL.com article, advertising rates on streaming channels are as low as $30 on a cost per thousand impression format.

About Cost Per Thousand Impressions: Here’s what Gemini AI says about “Cost per thousand”:

Advertising Cost per Thousand (CPM) is the price an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions, or opportunities for people to see their ad. The “M” in CPM comes from the Latin word mīlle, meaning 1,000. This pricing model is effective for increasing brand awareness and broad reach, allowing advertisers to budget for widespread exposure of their message across platforms like websites, social media, and even traditional media like out-of-home advertising.

What about Super Bowl Cost per Thousand (CPM):

The cost-per-thousand (CPM) for a Super Bowl ad can vary, but a 2024 Super Bowl ad cost approximately $7 million for a 30-second spot, with an estimated 120 million viewers. This places the CPM at roughly $58.33 when calculated as (Media Cost / (Impressions / 1000)). While official figures can differ, the Super Bowl’s high viewership makes it a premium advertising platform, with CPMs remaining competitive despite the escalating costs of the spots themselves.

What about Funeral Director Daily Cost per Thousand (CPM):

I believe that Funeral Director Daily delivers highly targeted decision makers in the Death Care profession to our sponsors. And, we do so at a low per thousand cost. FDD brings daily top-of-mind awareness to potential customers and does so at a CPM of between only $17 and $23 per thousand depending on the size and placement of one’s ad copy.

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