YouTube Doubles Watch Hour Requirement for New Creators to Earn Money

YouTube is making it harder for new creators to start earning money on the platform by doubling its watch-hour requirement and increasing the number of Shorts views needed to qualify for monetisation.

Starting February 1, creators will need at least 8,000 qualified watch hours during the previous 12 months or 20 million qualified Shorts views within 90 days to meet the new threshold.

Currently, YouTube requires creators to have at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours over the previous year or 10 million Shorts views within 90 days.

The Google-owned company said the changes will apply to new applicants and will not affect creators who are already members of the YouTube Partner Program.

YouTube raises the bar for Shorts creators.

YouTube is also introducing an ongoing requirement for creators earning through its Shorts Creators Pool. Channels will need to maintain at least 10 million Shorts views during 90 days to continue receiving Shorts revenue.

If a channel falls below that level, it will remain in the YouTube Partner Program and can continue earning money from eligible long-form videos. Shorts revenue will resume once the channel again reaches 10 million views during 90 days.

The changes could have a particularly significant impact on newer Shorts creators, who will need to consistently generate large audiences before qualifying for and maintaining access to Shorts monetisation.

YouTube said it is updating the requirements to keep pace with the platform’s growth. The company says YouTube now records more than 200 billion daily Shorts views, while viewers watch more than 1 billion hours of content on televisions every day.

Higher thresholds could limit new monetised channels

Increasing the requirements means creators will have to build substantially larger audiences before they can begin earning advertising and subscription revenue.

The watch-hour requirement is doubling, while the Shorts requirement for new creators is also increasing from 10 million to 20 million qualified views within 90 days.

While established creators in the Partner Program are protected from the new entry requirements, creators focused primarily on Shorts will face continued pressure to maintain the required viewing levels to receive revenue from the Shorts Creators Pool.

YouTube expands Premium Lite.

Alongside the monetisation changes, YouTube said it is expanding its lower-priced Premium Lite subscription to every country where YouTube Premium is available.

Creators receive a portion of subscription revenue based on member watch time and views. YouTube said 55% of eligible revenue goes to long-form video creators, while Shorts creators receive 45%.

The company argues that expanding its subscription audience could increase creator earnings because partners, on average, generate more revenue when a viewer subscribes to Premium than when that person watches advertising-supported content.

Premium Lite provides an ad-free experience across most videos and includes features such as offline downloads and background playback.

YouTube’s changes come as other major social platforms rethink how creators are rewarded. X recently changed its creator payout system to emphasise original content, while Facebook has introduced a new monetisation program as platforms compete to attract and retain creators.