Digitnomics 
YouTube is raising the bar for new creators seeking to earn advertising and Premium revenue from the platform, with the required watch hours set to double from February 2027.
Under the new rules announced by YouTube, creators applying to join the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) for ad and Premium revenue will need 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours in the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days.
The new thresholds will take effect on February 1, 2027. YouTube said creators already in the Partner Programme will not be affected by the change.
The move represents a significant increase from the current requirement of 4,000 valid public watch hours in 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in 90 days, alongside 1,000 subscribers.
YouTube Says Creator Economy Has Changed
According to YouTube, the changes are designed to ensure that the Partner Programme continues to reward active creators as the platform’s creator economy expands.
The company said the YPP now has more than 3 million creators and that the latest changes are its first significant update to the programme since 2018.
YouTube also says it expects to pay creators more in 2027 than it did in 2026.
The higher entry requirements will particularly affect people planning to start new channels after the new rules take effect.
Creators starting before February 1, 2027, therefore have time to work toward the existing thresholds.
Shorts Creators Face A Separate Requirement
YouTube is also changing how creators earn from Shorts.
From February 1, 2027, creators will need 10 million qualified Shorts views within a rolling 90-day period to receive advertising and subscription revenue sharing from Shorts.
Creators who fall below the 10 million-view threshold will not be removed from YPP. They will continue to be eligible to earn from long-form videos, while Shorts revenue sharing will resume once they cross the threshold again.
YouTube said it will also introduce other incentives, including potential bonuses linked to YouTube Shopping, brand deals and emerging trends.
Not All Monetisation Requirements Are Changing
The higher requirements do not apply to every YouTube monetisation feature.
The platform’s lower entry threshold for Fan Funding and Shopping remains unchanged.
Eligible creators can access these features from 500 subscribers, provided they have at least three public uploads within the previous 90 days and either 3,000 public watch hours over the past year or 3 million public Shorts views over 90 days.
This means creators will still have an opportunity to begin building revenue streams before reaching the much higher threshold required for advertising revenue.
YouTube Expands Premium Lite
Alongside the YPP changes, YouTube announced that its cheaper Premium Lite subscription will expand to all countries where standard YouTube Premium is available.
Premium Lite provides uninterrupted viewing, offline downloads and background play for most content.
YouTube said 60% of net Premium Lite subscription revenue is allocated to a creator revenue pool, compared with 30% for standard Premium. The resulting pool is distributed based on member watch time and views, with creators receiving a 55% revenue share for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts.
What It Means For African Creators
The changes are significant for creators in Nigeria and across Africa, where YouTube has become an important platform for building audiences, businesses and alternative income streams.
The higher thresholds mean that creators hoping to depend primarily on YouTube advertising will need to build larger and more consistently engaged audiences.
For new creators, simply going viral may no longer be enough.
Long-form creators will need to generate significantly more sustained viewing time, while Shorts creators will need to maintain very high levels of engagement over successive 90-day periods.
At the same time, YouTube’s decision to leave Fan Funding and Shopping thresholds unchanged gives smaller creators another route to begin monetising their audiences.
The changes also underline a broader shift in the creator economy: platforms are increasingly looking beyond follower counts and isolated viral moments and placing greater emphasis on sustained engagement and active audiences.
For anyone planning to start a YouTube channel, the message is clear.
The opportunity to make money from YouTube is still there, but from 2027, getting to the advertising-revenue stage will require a much bigger audience and significantly more viewing activity.
