YouTube will make it harder for new creators to qualify for advertising and YouTube Premium revenue sharing from February 1, 2027, after announcing a major overhaul of Partner Program entry thresholds. New applicants seeking the ad-revenue tier will need at least 1,000 subscribers plus either 8,000 qualified public watch hours in the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. YouTube confirmed the change on August 10. Existing partners will not lose access simply because they fall below the new entry bar. Monetisation thresholds double for new creators The current requirement is 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 qualified watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days. The February change doubles both audience thresholds while leaving the subscriber requirement unchanged. “This update won’t impact creators already in YPP,” YouTube said in its official announcement. Read More: Google Slashes YouTube Premium Price by 50% for Eligible Users YouTube defines qualified watch hours as viewing time from public long-form videos. Hours from private, unlisted or deleted videos do not count. Watch time generated by ad campaigns and Shorts also does not contribute toward the long-form threshold. Qualified Shorts views must come from public Shorts appearing in the Shorts Feed. YouTube says the platform now records more than 200 billion daily Shorts views. Users also watch over one billion hours of YouTube content on television screens each day. Shorts creators face separate revenue rule YouTube is also changing how Shorts revenue is distributed. From February 1, creators will need 10 million qualified Shorts views during the previous 90 days to receive ad and subscription revenue sharing from Shorts. Channels that drop below that level will remain inside YPP and can continue earning from eligible long-form content. Shorts revenue sharing will resume automatically if their 90-day total rises above 10 million again. Read More: End of Endless Scrolling? YouTube Adds Option to Remove Shorts YouTube plans additional incentives for creators below that threshold. The company cited potential bonuses linked to YouTube Shopping, brand deals and starting or growing trends, although it has not released full details. The lower entry thresholds for fan funding and selected Shopping features will remain unchanged. In eligible markets, creators can currently access that level with 500 subscribers, three public uploads in 90 days and either 3,000 watch hours or three million Shorts views. Premium Lite expansion adds another earning stream YouTube is also expanding Premium Lite to every country where YouTube Premium is offered. The company says creators will share revenue generated from those subscriptions based on member watch time and views. YouTube said the Premium Lite revenue pool will represent 60% of net subscription revenue, while the Premium pool will represent 30%. Creators receive a 55% revenue share for long-form videos and 45% for Shorts from the relevant distribution. The new YPP terms take effect on February 1, 2027. For aspiring creators, reaching advertising revenue eligibility will require far more viewing activity than under the current system.
Why Traditional News Outlets Are Losing Ground to Social Platforms
Global trust in news has fallen to its lowest level in a decade as audiences increasingly turn to social media, video platforms and artificial intelligence chatbots for information, according to the Digital News Report 2026 published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. The annual report, one of the world’s most comprehensive studies on media consumption, surveyed nearly 100,000 people across 48 markets. Researchers Jim Egan, Craig T. Robertson, Amy Ross Arguedas, Nic Newman, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Mitali Mukherjee and Richard Fletcher authored the report. The study found that only 37 percent of respondents trust “most news most of the time,” marking the lowest level since the Reuters Institute began tracking trust in 2015. The sharpest declines came in the Philippines, where trust dropped 10 percentage points. Ireland followed with a nine-point decline, while Thailand, Peru and Poland each recorded an eight-point fall. The United States also recorded a significant decline. Only 25 percent of Americans said they trust most news most of the time, down five percentage points from 2025. Trust was even lower among right-leaning Americans, where only 15 percent expressed confidence in most news. Several major US news organizations also recorded notable declines. Trust in CBS News and Fox News each fell by 10 percentage points, while CNN lost six points compared with the previous year. AI and Social Platforms Become Major News Sources The report found that audiences are increasingly discovering news through digital platforms instead of traditional media outlets. For the first time globally, more people now access news through social media platforms and video networks than through television broadcasts or news organizations’ own websites. Researchers said this shift extends well beyond younger audiences. The report found that every age group, except adults aged 55 and older, now relies less on television and news websites than they did in 2021. Artificial intelligence is also beginning to reshape news consumption. Weekly use of AI chatbots for news increased from 7 percent to 10 percent worldwide over the past year. Among people younger than 35, weekly AI chatbot use reached 16 percent, making the technology an increasingly important source of news discovery and explanation. The report also found that 77 percent of respondents watch online news videos every week. Most users consume that content through platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook rather than through dedicated news websites or mobile applications. Traditional News Organizations Face New Challenges Researchers said the findings reflect a rapidly changing digital landscape where audiences increasingly prefer convenient, personalized and mobile-first news experiences. Publishers continue to face pressure from changing consumer habits, growing competition from technology platforms and declining public confidence. The report also highlights the growing influence of video-based news, creator-driven journalism and AI-powered information services in shaping how people consume news around the world. Despite the rapid rise of digital platforms, researchers stressed that questions surrounding trust, accuracy and transparency remain central to the future of journalism. As audiences embrace new technologies, news organizations face increasing pressure to rebuild credibility while adapting to changing viewing habits and evolving digital platforms.
