YouTube has confirmed a major overhaul of its Partner Program. The platform is doubling the watch hour requirement for new creators. As a result, it will become harder to start earning ad and Premium revenue from a channel. The changes were announced this week. They take effect on February 1, 2027. This marks the first significant revision to YouTube’s monetisation thresholds since 2018.
So what exactly is changing. Creators applying to join the Partner Program for the first time will need at least 8,000 qualified watch hours. That figure covers the previous 365 days and is double the current 4,000 hour requirement. Alternatively, applicants can qualify through Shorts. They will need 20 million qualified views within the last 90 days, also double the existing 10 million threshold. However, the 1,000 subscriber requirement to join the program stays the same.
Existing creators do not need to worry. Anyone already enrolled in the Partner Program keeps their monetisation status. YouTube says current partners are grandfathered into the scheme. Even so, they must review and accept updated agreement terms inside YouTube Studio. This has to happen before January 31, 2027, in order to keep earning from their channels.
YouTube is also tightening how it pays out Shorts advertising revenue. From the same date, channels will need at least 10 million qualified Shorts views within a rolling 90 day window. This is required to keep receiving ad and subscription payouts on short-form content. Creators who fall below that mark will not be removed from the program. Instead, they will temporarily lose Shorts revenue sharing. Payouts then resume automatically once view counts climb back above the threshold. Meanwhile, earnings from long-form videos remain unaffected during any such dip.
Why is YouTube making this move. The company points to continued growth in viewership across the platform. Shorts now draw over 200 billion views globally every day. At the same time, more than one billion hours of YouTube content are watched on television screens daily. Because of this growth, executives say the new thresholds will reward consistently active creators. They also plan to fund new incentive programs, including YouTube Shopping and brand partnerships.
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To soften the impact of the higher entry bar, YouTube is expanding its cheaper Premium Lite subscription tier. It will now be available in every market where standard YouTube Premium already exists. Under the new revenue split, creators will share in a pool worth 60 percent of net Premium Lite subscription revenue. They will also share 30 percent of net revenue from standard Premium views. These earnings will appear alongside regular YouTube Premium metrics inside YouTube Analytics. Meanwhile, subscription revenue overall stays split 55 percent for long-form video and 45 percent for Shorts. Despite the stricter entry rules, YouTube says it expects to pay creators more in 2027 than it did in 2026.
Not everything is changing, though. Eligibility for YouTube’s Fan Funding tools and its Shopping affiliate features remains untouched. Smaller creators can still access those features once they reach 500 subscribers. They also need three public uploads within 90 days, plus either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or three million Shorts views in the past 90 days.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement has drawn sharp criticism. Many creators and industry voices argue the higher bar will make it much harder for newcomers to break into monetisation. Popular YouTube analytics tool vidIQ described the update as raising the bar for new creators. Meanwhile, several smaller creators online called the doubled watch hour requirement a heavy blow to channels still trying to build an audience. Even rival platforms have reacted. Livestreaming service Kick has already moved to position itself as an alternative for creators frustrated by the tougher rules.
For now, the changes apply strictly to new applicants and to the ongoing Shorts performance requirement. Established creators earning from long-form content can continue operating under their current terms. They simply need to accept the revised agreement before the January 2027 deadline.
