ouTube Doubles Monetization Thresholds for New Creators
YouTube is making it significantly harder for new creators to qualify for advertising and Premium revenue, announcing its first major changes to the YouTube Partner Program in years.
Beginning February 1, 2027, new creators seeking access to ads and YouTube Premium revenue sharing will need 8,000 qualified watch hours in the previous 365 days, or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days. The current thresholds are 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views.
The requirement of 1,000 subscribers remains in place, according to independent reporting on the update. Creators who are already members of the YouTube Partner Program will not have to meet the new entry thresholds.
YouTube is also introducing a continuing threshold specifically for Shorts earnings. From February 2027, creators will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views over the previous 90 days to receive advertising and subscription revenue from Shorts. Falling below that level will not remove a creator from YPP, and long-form monetisation can continue. Shorts revenue sharing resumes once the channel crosses the threshold again.
At the same time, YouTube is expanding Premium Lite to all markets where YouTube Premium is offered. The company says Premium Lite will contribute to a dedicated creator revenue pool, while existing creator revenue-share rates remain 55% for long-form content and 45% for Shorts.
The lower thresholds for access to fan-funding and YouTube Shopping products are not being changed. YouTube says the tougher advertising thresholds are intended to reflect the platform’s growth and reward creators producing consistent engagement. The company reports that YouTube now generates more than 200 billion daily Shorts views and more than one billion hours of viewing on television screens each day. Those figures are company-reported.
