Key facts
- YouTube is doubling the required watch hours for new creators to start earning money.
- New creators will need 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
- The current requirements are 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views.
- These changes will go into effect starting February 1.
- Creators already in the YouTube Partner Program will not be affected by the new thresholds.
- Channels need to maintain 10 million Shorts views over a 90-day period to earn from the Shorts Creators Pool.
YouTube announced on Monday that new creators will need to meet significantly higher thresholds to begin earning money from ads and subscriptions on the platform. Starting February 1, creators will require 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days to be eligible for monetization. This is a substantial increase from the current requirements of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours or 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views.
The Google-owned company stated that these changes are being introduced to "keep pace with the growth of YouTube," which reportedly sees over 200 billion daily Shorts views and over a billion hours of watch time on TV.
Creators already participating in the YouTube Partner Program will not be affected by these updates. However, channels aiming to earn through the Shorts Creators Pool will now need to maintain 10 million Shorts views over a 90-day period. Those falling below this benchmark will continue to earn from long-form content and will resume earning from Shorts once they meet the view count again.
YouTube also announced the expansion of its Premium Lite subscription to all countries where YouTube Premium is available. Creators receive a portion of subscription revenue based on member watch time and views, with long-form video creators receiving 55% and Shorts creators receiving 45%. The company noted that Premium subscribers generally lead to higher creator earnings compared to ad revenue.
These revisions place greater pressure on creators, particularly those focused on Shorts, to consistently attract large audiences before they can monetize their content. This could potentially lead to fewer new creators successfully entering the monetization program. YouTube's move follows similar adjustments by other social media platforms, including Elon Musk's X, which recently updated its creator payout guidelines to prioritize original content, and Facebook's introduction of a new monetization program earlier this spring.