YouTube raised its bar for new creators ahead of a 2027 payout change

The test

On 10 August 2026, YouTube published a blog post describing the first changes to the YouTube Partner Program's structure since 2018. The post states that Premium Lite, a lower-cost ad-supported Premium tier, will expand to every country where YouTube Premium is offered, with a revenue pool set at 60 percent of net Premium Lite subscription revenue against 30 percent for standard Premium, split 55/45 between long-form and Shorts by watch time and views. It also states that, beginning 1 February 2027, channels will need 10 million qualified Shorts views in the trailing 90 days to keep or gain Shorts ad and subscription revenue sharing, and that new applicants to the program will need 8,000 qualified watch hours in the trailing 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, changes YouTube states will not affect creators already accepted into the program.

What the evidence says

This is YouTube's own announcement of a policy change, not a third-party audit of its effect. The post states the company had over 3 million creators in the program at the time of writing, and cites, in a footnote, that Premium subscribers earn partners more than ad-supported viewers 'based on 2026 performance', without publishing the underlying figures. For comparison, YouTube's separate help-center page on Partner Program eligibility, current as retrieved on 16 September 2026, states the standing entry bar as 1,000 subscribers with either 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days, a baseline the August announcement raises for new applicants without restating a subscriber figure.

The sample and the variance

The changes described apply to YouTube's global Partner Program population, but the specific thresholds, entry requirements versus standing eligibility, apply to different groups: existing partners keep current terms, while new applicants after 1 February 2027 face the higher bar. The 10 million-Shorts-view rule for revenue sharing is a rolling 90-day threshold that can be lost and regained, not a one-time qualification, and YouTube states explicitly that the change is unlikely to affect creators who already earn meaningfully from Shorts.

What to try next

A Shorts-focused creator can reasonably track their trailing 90-day qualified views against the stated 10 million threshold using YouTube Studio's own reporting, and a new-channel operator can plan against the higher 8,000-hour or 20 million-view bar rather than the current lower one. This is a description of the stated mechanics, not a forecast of any creator's future earnings.

• Does a given channel's current Shorts revenue sharing depend on staying above the 10 million 90-day view threshold after February 2027?
• Is a cited YPP eligibility figure the standing threshold or the new-applicant threshold that takes effect in 2027?
• What does a channel's own YouTube Studio dashboard show for qualified watch hours and Shorts views against these thresholds?

YouTube's announcement is a specific, dated statement of planned policy change, worth reading against its own current eligibility documentation rather than against assumptions about what the program used to require.