YouTube New Update Monetisation 2026: The YouTube Partner Program will need 1,000 subscribers plus either 8,000 qualified public watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified Shorts views over the past 90 days to unlock ad and YouTube Premium revenue sharing.
Both performance thresholds are exactly double the current requirements of 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views. The subscriber minimum stays at 1,000.
YouTube says the changes are being introduced to “keep pace with the growth of YouTube, which now sees over 200 billion daily Shorts views and over a billion hours of watch time on TV.
Creators receive a share of subscription revenue based on member watch time and views, with 55% going to long-form video creators and 45% to Shorts creators.