YouTube now requires creators to have twice as many watch hours to start earning money
- ID
- 12798
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 11 Aug 2026, 2:27 AM
- Fetched
- 11 Aug 2026, 2:42 AM
- Provider
- TechCrunch
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/10/youtube-now-requires-creators-to-have-twice-as-many-watch-hours-to-start-earning-money/
- Source URL
- https://techcrunch.com/feed/
Summary
- Score
- 6.0
- Created
- 11 Aug 2026, 2:43 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- saas_foundersvibe_coders
What happened
YouTube is doubling its monetization entry thresholds effective February 1: new creators now need 1,000 subscribers plus 8,000 watch hours/year (up from 4,000) or 20 million Shorts views/90 days (up from 10 million). Existing YouTube Partner Program members are unaffected, but Shorts creators must maintain 10 million views per 90 days to keep earning from the Shorts Creators Pool. YouTube is also expanding its cheaper Premium Lite tier to all markets where Premium is available, with 55% of sub revenue going to long-form creators and 45% to Shorts creators.
Why it matters
If you're a startup or SaaS founder planning YouTube as a growth or content marketing channel, the bar to monetize has doubled — factor this into content strategy and budget timelines before February 1. Existing monetized channels are safe, but Shorts-dependent creators face a recurring 10M-view/90-day maintenance threshold or they lose Shorts revenue while keeping long-form earnings.
Discussion angle
Does doubling the monetization threshold push new creators toward alternative platforms like TikTok or Substack, and what does that mean for founders choosing where to invest content resources in 2026?