YouTube will double the entry requirements for its Partner Program on February 1, 2027, raising the bar for new channels to start earning ad money. YouTube's official announcement on August 10 confirms new applicants will need 8,000 watch hours in the past year or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days — twice today's thresholds — alongside the unchanged 1,000-subscriber minimum.
The new YouTube monetization thresholds
| Requirement | Today | From February 1, 2027 |
|---|
| Subscribers | 1,000 | 1,000 (unchanged) |
| Watch hours, past 365 days | 4,000 | 8,000 |
| OR qualified Shorts views, past 90 days | 10 million | 20 million |
This is the first major increase to the program's entry bar since 2018. YouTube says the Partner Program now has more than 3 million active members and calls it "the only program that pays creators consistently, transparently, and at scale."
Already monetized? Your channel is safe
Channels that are already in the Partner Program keep their status — the higher thresholds apply only to new applicants, though all creators will need to accept updated terms. 9to5Google's report notes the change effectively protects existing partners while making the climb steeper for everyone behind them.
Shorts revenue is the exception. Earning ad and subscription revenue from Shorts will require a recurring 10 million qualified views over each 90-day window. Creators who dip below that keep earning from long-form videos and regain Shorts payouts once their views recover.
The 500-subscriber tier is not changing
The lower "fan funding" tier survives untouched. Per YouTube's Help documentation, creators can still unlock Super Thanks, Super Chat, channel memberships, and YouTube Shopping at 500 subscribers plus either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or 3 million Shorts views in 90 days. YouTube states plainly: "There are no changes to the eligibility requirements for fan funding, YouTube Creator Partnerships, or YouTube Shopping."
Premium Lite goes global, with a bigger creator pool
Alongside the stricter gate, YouTube is expanding Premium Lite — its cheaper, mostly ad-free subscription — to every country where YouTube Premium is available. The revenue math favors the new tier: creators share a pool representing 60% of Premium Lite's net subscription revenue, versus 30% for standard Premium. From those pools, 55% flows to long-form video and 45% to Shorts, allocated by member watch time. YouTube says creators already earn more per user from Premium viewing than from ads.
The company is also promising new incentive programs for channels below the Shorts threshold, including YouTube Shopping bonuses, brand-deal opportunities, and rewards for starting trends. That is YouTube's stated rationale for raising the gate: the stricter bar, it says, lets it invest in "new incentive programs that directly support creator growth and the many business models that work across YouTube." The company adds that it expects to pay creators more in 2027 than in 2026 overall — the pie grows, even as the door narrows.
What this means for Filipino creators
The Philippines has one of the world's most active YouTube audiences, and the doubled requirement lands hardest on the small channels just starting out: a new vlogger applying after February 1, 2027 will need twice the watch time — 8,000 hours is roughly 480,000 minutes of audience viewing in a single year — before seeing a single centavo of ad revenue. Filipino creators who are close to today's 4,000-hour bar have a clear deadline: qualify and get accepted before the new thresholds take effect, because channels already inside the program are not affected.
For everyone else, the practical path shifts to the untouched 500-subscriber tier. Super Thanks, Super Chat, channel memberships, and YouTube Shopping remain reachable at 500 subscribers and 3,000 watch hours, making fan support and affiliate selling the realistic first income steps for new Filipino channels rather than ads. On the upside, Premium Lite's global rollout covers markets where Premium already operates, which includes the Philippines, adding a second subscription pool that pays local creators for both long-form videos and Shorts. YouTube has not announced Philippine pricing or a rollout date for Premium Lite yet.
