Amid Media Apocalypse, Australia's Longest-Running Digital Independent Arts Publisher Celebrates 25 Years

MELBOURNE (12 November, 2025) Hundreds of media outlets have had to shut their doors or slash jobs, but one digital pioneer is thriving and celebrated its 25th anniversary this month on 8 November. ArtsHub is Australia’s longest-running independent, digitally native arts and culture publisher.1

From its early days as a free arts-employment listing service, ArtsHub has grown into Australia's leading voice for the arts industry. It offers breaking news, opinions, events, and opportunities, and it remains THE source for arts industry jobs. 

Network Membership Drives Revenue Growth

Acquired in 2007 by a group of shareholders led by Simon Baker, who was then CEO and Managing Director of the company behind realestate.com.au, ArtsHub has gone on to build an entirely new, global digital publishing group up around itself. 

Called the Creative Hubs Group, this larger entity houses both the Australian and UK editions of ArtsHub and also ScreenHub, the dedicated games, film, TV and streaming site.

The Group in total now averages 604,000 web, social, and email users per month and 3 million social and website impressions per month. 

"More Australians use the Group’s websites every month than attend the National Gallery of Australia every year."2

Mimi Curran, Group Chief Commercial Officer, said, “Rebranding as Creative Hubs Group earlier this year turned our beloved ArtsHub and ScreenHub brand destinations into a powerful, integrated network with the same industry trust and credibility"

“The launch of our network-wide membership offering for organisations and new opportunities to reach our thousands of members is just the start. Advertisers can now tap into Australia’s leading arts, screen, and games audiences and award-winning journalism through a single point of contact"

Flourishing During a Media Apocalypse

“ArtsHub.com.au has strengthened during a dire period for the media industry that saw the launch and rise of Facebook and the iPhone, as well as the subsequent destruction of 38% of Australian newspapers,”3 said Creative Hubs Group CEO and Managing Director Sol Wise.

“And it’s not just newspapers. Among the casualties are other major arts and culture media brands, like The Daily Review, Kotaku Australia, the Smith Journal, The Adelaide Review, The Australian Art Review, Rip It Up Magazine, and Vice Australia"

“Media giant Nine announced 50 job cuts just last week, and the publishers of the 85-year-old literary magazine, Meanjin, have made its editors redundant and are shutting down, as well. 

Date	ArtsHub Media Milestone
November 2000	ArtsHub.com.au founded as DramaticOnline by a former ABC Radio producer and the former Director of the Bendigo Arts Centre.
March 2003	ArtsHub.com.au takes on its final identity as DramaticOnline is rebranded.
March 2007	ArtsHub.com.au acquired by its current owners, including Simon Baker, then CEO and Managing Director of the company behind realestate.com.au
October 2012	ArtsHub.com.au acquires ScreenHub.com.au, a site dedicated to covering film, TV and streaming.
September 2021	ArtsHub.com.au founded GamesHub.com as a daily video game news, features, and reviews website. This was divested in June 2025.
May 2025	All the destinations were combined into the Creative Hubs Group, a new, one-stop shop for the best arts, screen and games content.
November 2025	ArtsHub.com.au's 25th anniversary.

The Accidental Media Moguls

Ex-ABC Radio producer Fiona Boyd and ex-Bendigo Arts Centre Director David Eedle first launched what has become ArtsHub.com.au as DramaticOnline, rebranding it with its current name in 2003. 

Wise said, "Fiona and David were accidental media moguls and began by posting free job listings, like today you might start an email newsletter. They quickly saw they were filling a vital need for the arts world"

"ArtsHub.com.au grew so rapidly that they quickly gave up their consulting work altogether. From that day on, ArtsHub.com.au and now the Creative Hubs Group have never looked back. And now we're building a platform for the next 25 years.”

When asked about the website he created with Fiona Boyd, co-founder, David Eedle said:

“We are both immensely proud that a business born in our loungeroom that sought to support a fractured and underserved community is still going strong after a quarter century. Even though we both moved on to new endeavours many years ago, people still stop us today to tell us how Artshub is such a useful part of their professional arts lives.”

ArtsHub Celebrates Its Members

Curran also said, “To celebrate our 25 years, we’re launching a series of special offers for industry professionals and organisations. And since our readership includes the most talented creative minds in Australia, we've created a competition for members to design a new and limited-edition commemorative bag.

“For ArtsHub.com.au to still be thriving after a quarter century is because of our members. That is why, over the next 12 months, instead of celebrating our creativity and accomplishments, we will celebrate theirs. Our editorial team is writing a series of member profiles and giving them the same level of attention as the biggest industry story.”

About Creative Hubs Group

Creative Hubs Group through its foundational brand, ArtsHub.com.au, has a 25-year alignment to the arts and entertainment industries that includes ArtsHub, ArtsHub UK, and ScreenHub. Creative Hubs Group offers advertisers reach across the whole group through a single point of contact. Its audiences love the arts, events, culture, entertainment, and video games. They are educated, prosperous, engaged, and aged from 18 to 54. Learn more: https://www.creativehubsgroup.com/

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1. Other arts publications originated in print (Limelight, Art + Australia, and Beat Magazine) or launched much later (Broadsheet in 2009, Concrete Playground in 2009, The Music in 2013).

2. 2. National Gallery of Australia Annual Report 2023-24, p65, https://nga.gov.au/media/dd/documents/NGA_Annual_Report_23_24.pdf

3. https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/newspapers-are-dying-news-diversity-died-years-ago