YouTube Doubles Watch-Hour Requirement For Creators To Join Monetisation Programme: All Details

YouTube is raising the bar for creators looking to start earning money on the platform. The Google-owned company said that new entrants to the YouTube Partner Program will need to clear significantly higher thresholds than before, a move that comes as the platform points to surging viewership across both long-form video and Shorts.

New thresholds double existing requirements

Under the revised rules, creators will need to have logged at least 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year, or racked up 20 million qualified Shorts views in the preceding 90 days, before they can begin monetising their channel. That marks a sharp jump from the current entry bar of 1,000 subscribers paired with either 4,000 watch hours over a year or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days. The new requirements take effect from February 1, and YouTube has said creators already enrolled in the Partner Program will not be affected by the change.

Shorts creators face an added retention rule

Beyond the higher entry threshold, YouTube said creators will now need to sustain 10 million Shorts views over any rolling 90-day period in order to keep earning through the Shorts Creators Pool. Those who fall below that mark won't be removed from the Partner Program altogether, they will continue to earn from their long-form content and can resume earning from Shorts once their view count crosses the threshold again.

Company cites platform's scale as the reason

YouTube attributed the tightened criteria to the sheer size the platform has grown to, pointing to more than 200 billion daily Shorts views and over a billion daily hours of watch time on television screens alone. Effectively, the changes raise the bar both for creators trying to enter the monetisation programme and for those trying to stay in it, particularly on the Shorts side, which could mean fewer new creators qualifying to earn from their content going forward.

Premium Lite subscription expands globally

Alongside the monetisation changes, YouTube also announced it is rolling out its lower-cost Premium Lite subscription to every country where standard YouTube Premium is currently offered. The tier gives users an ad-free viewing experience on most videos, along with offline downloads and background playback. Creators earn a cut of Premium Lite subscription revenue based on member watch time and views, split 55 percent to long-form creators and 45 percent to Shorts creators. YouTube said in its announcement that creators typically earn more from a Premium subscriber's viewing than they would from the same person watching ad-supported content.