YouTube is raising the bar for creators trying to earn money with its YouTube Partner Program (YPP), and new applicants would need much more watch time before getting to full monetisation. New creators will need 1,000 subscribers as well as either 8,000 qualified public watch hours during the last 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days from February 1, 2027.
The move represents one of the biggest updates to YouTube's Partner Program requirements in many years. The current full YPP eligibility threshold requires creators to have 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 valid public watch hours over the past 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views over 90 days. The new rules effectively double both performance thresholds for new applicants.
YouTube says the change is part of a much broader effort to support the Partner Program and to support active creators and different business models across the platform. It added that now more than three million creators are participating in YPP and wants to add extra incentives to foster creators’ growth.
8,000 watch hours: What is changing?
The biggest change for traditional long-form creators is the increase from 4,000 to 8,000 qualified public watch hours. These hours must be accumulated during the previous 365 days, meaning creators will need to demonstrate a much larger level of audience engagement before qualifying under the watch-time route.
The subscriber requirement is still 1,000. That means creators will still need to build a massive subscriber base and earn enough viewing time to get the product ready.
For creators who focus mainly on Shorts, the alternative threshold will also increase. Instead of 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, new applicants will need 20 million qualified Shorts views over the same period.
Importantly, creators do not need to reach both performance thresholds. They need to hit the 1,000-subscriber requirement and qualify through either the watch-hour route or the Shorts-view route.
Existing Monetised Creators Are Not Being Removed
The change is especially important for new applicants since YouTube has said the higher entry requirements will apply from February 1, 2027. Existing creators already in the Partner Program are not simply being removed because they do not meet the new entry threshold.
But YouTube is also making some changes to the way it shares the revenue generated from Shorts. Starting February 1, 2027, creators will need 10 million qualified views to be able to receive ads and subscription revenue sharing from the Shorts Creator Pool. Channels that fall below that threshold can stay in YPP and continue making money by producing content with their Shorts content and the revenue sharing will resume as soon as they can achieve the level of qualifying views again.
YouTube Expands Premium Lite
The monetisation changes come alongside the extension of YouTube Premium Lite. YouTube announced that Premium Lite will be available in all countries where YouTube Premium is offered.
The company says creators can earn a share of Premium Lite subscription revenue based on member watch time and views. YouTube has outlined a 60% allocation of net Premium Lite subscription revenue to the creator pool, while its regular Premium model allocates 30% of net subscription revenue to the creator pool. Revenue sharing also continues to vary between long-form videos and Shorts.
What the New Rules mean for creators?
The higher thresholds will make the journey to full ad monetisation more difficult for aspiring creators. Channels will need to keep the audience engaged rather than just rely on viral videos on a regular basis.
Long-form creators may need to build larger libraries of useful, engaging content in order to accumulate watch time, while Shorts creators have a much higher view target. At the same time, YouTube is expanding other earning opportunities such as Shopping and new incentive programmes intended to support creators who generate engagement and build audiences.
The company said these changes are intended to maintain the Partner Program as YouTube’s creator ecosystem continues to grow.
For anyone going to start a YouTube channel, the key takeaway is that the current 4,000-hour threshold still holds before the new rules take effect on a YouTube channel. From February 1, 2027, new YPP applicants will have to take the higher 8,000-hour requirement or the alternative 20 million Shorts view threshold.
The update is a major shift in YouTube’s way to monetise creators and would make it less likely that creators would be spending more time on content that is good at keeping people interested in it and more time on longer term channel growth.
