A small Czech channel that has so far reached ad money on YouTube after 4,000 watch hours in a year must now collect double. YouTube has announced that from 1 February 2027 it is raising the entry bar to its Partner Program for new applicants.

The previous requirement was 1,000 subscribers and either the 4,000 public watch hours over 365 days, or 10 million Shorts views over 90 days. The subscriber requirement stays the same from February, but the second condition rises to 8,000 watch hours, or 20 million Shorts views in the same windows.

Shorts payouts focus on big accounts

YouTube is also changing the rules for ad payouts from Shorts. The share of ad revenue from Shorts will now go only to creators who keep their Shorts views at the level of the former entry threshold. Creators who fall below it temporarily lose Shorts payouts but stay in the programme and continue earning from long-form content. Once they cross the threshold again, Shorts revenue sharing resumes automatically.

YouTube justifies the tightening for Shorts by wanting ads on that format to be a “meaningful” revenue stream for creators. Setting the threshold steers Shorts payouts towards accounts with large reach, and smaller channels are excluded from this source until they cross the threshold.

Existing creators are not affected

Existing members of the Partner Program do not need to meet the new bar. YouTube said the update “won't impact creators already in YPP”, so the higher thresholds apply only to new applicants.

The company frames the increase as keeping pace with its own platform's growth. According to its blog, the move is meant to “keep pace with the growth of YouTube”, which records over 200 billion Shorts views a day and more than a billion hours of watch time on TV screens.

For small channels the road to payouts gets longer

For a smaller channel at the start of its journey, gathering the new watch-hour threshold takes noticeably longer, and for Shorts the gap is even wider. The higher entry threshold and the maintenance bar make short video mainly a tool for building reach. Smaller creators reach Shorts earnings only with a large volume of views.

YouTube gives roughly half a year between the announcement and the change taking effect. Anyone who is now aiming for earnings through short video has until February to reconsider whether a long format can get them to the same money faster. For small channels, the centre of earnings on YouTube is shifting from Shorts back to long-form content.

By Tereza Tiller