YouTube announced on Monday that it is raising the eligibility bar for its Partner Program, requiring new creators to double their watch hours or significantly increase their Shorts views before they can start earning money from ads and subscriptions. The new thresholds — 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days — take effect February 1 and apply only to creators who have not yet joined the program.
The move marks the first major adjustment to YouTube’s monetization entry requirements in years and signals a strategic shift as the platform leans further into subscription revenue. Under the previous rules, creators needed 4,000 watch hours over 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days, alongside 1,000 subscribers. The new policy keeps the subscriber requirement unchanged but makes the activity thresholds substantially steeper.
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What changes for new creators
The updated criteria apply exclusively to creators applying to the YouTube Partner Program after February 1. Existing members will not lose access, but the higher bar will make it harder for smaller channels to cross into monetization for the first time.
- Watch hours: 8,000 qualified public watch hours in the past 12 months, up from 4,000
- Shorts views: 20 million qualified views in the last 90 days, up from 10 million
- Subscribers: 1,000, unchanged
YouTube framed the change as a response to the platform’s growth, noting it now sees over 200 billion daily Shorts views and more than a billion hours of daily watch time on television screens. “We’re updating our monetization requirements to keep pace with the growth of YouTube,” the company wrote in a blog post. The implication is that as the platform scales, the bar for sharing in its ad and subscription revenue must scale with it.
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Shorts creators face a second, ongoing hurdle
Beyond the entry threshold, YouTube introduced a maintenance requirement for Shorts monetization. Creators already in the Partner Program must sustain 10 million Shorts views over a 90-day period to continue earning from the Shorts Creators Pool. Channels that fall below that figure will remain in the Partner Program and keep earning from long-form content, but their Shorts revenue will pause until they cross 10 million views again.
This creates a two-tier system for Shorts creators: a higher bar to get in, and a separate ongoing bar to stay profitable on short-form content. For channels that rely heavily on Shorts, the change introduces meaningful earnings volatility tied to view-count swings.
Premium Lite expansion and subscription revenue
As part of the same announcement, YouTube said it is expanding Premium Lite — its cheaper, ad-free tier — to all countries where YouTube Premium is currently available. The company positions this as a direct earnings opportunity for creators. Subscription revenue is distributed with 55% going to long-form creators and 45% to Shorts creators, based on member watch time and views.
“With these additional subscribers, creators can expect higher earnings: when a user signs up for Premium, partners, on average, earn more than when the user was watching ads,” YouTube stated. Premium Lite includes ad-free viewing on most videos, offline downloads, and background playback — features designed to appeal to users who want an improved experience without the full Premium price tag.
The expansion gives creators a larger potential subscription base, which could partially offset the sting of higher entry requirements. However, the revenue split and payout mechanics remain tied to watch time, meaning smaller creators still face an uphill climb before they see meaningful subscription income.
Industry-wide pressure on creator payouts
YouTube is not alone in revising its creator compensation model. Over the weekend, Elon Musk’s X updated its payout guidelines to reward only original content, cutting off monetization for accounts that rely on reposts or engagement bait. Earlier this spring, Facebook launched a new monetization program aimed at attracting creators from TikTok and YouTube.
The pattern across platforms is consistent: tighter requirements, a sharper focus on original content, and a greater emphasis on subscription revenue over ad-based payouts. For creators, this means building a sustainable audience is no longer just a growth strategy — it is a prerequisite for earning at all.
For those considering applying to the Partner Program before February 1, the current thresholds still apply. After that date, new applicants will need to demonstrate substantially larger audiences to begin monetizing, and Shorts-focused channels will need to treat the 10-million-view maintenance threshold as a recurring target rather than a one-time milestone.
