YouTube is increasing eligibility requirements for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), making it harder for creators to start earning money. The changes take effect on February 1, 2027, requiring channels to have at least 1,000 subscribers and meet higher viewing thresholds before joining YPP.
For “long-form” videos, YouTube raises the requirement to 8,000 qualified public watch hours in the prior 365 days, up from 4,000 hours over the past year. For Shorts, the company sets a new threshold of 20 million qualified public Shorts views in the previous 90 days, up from 10 million.
Both outlets report the updated criteria will apply to channels applying for monetization through YPP. While the sources frame the change in terms of higher “price of admission” and the difficulty for creators to qualify, the underlying details are consistent: the subscriber requirement remains at 1,000, and the watch-hours and Shorts-view thresholds are effectively doubled for new YPP applicants.
