← The Think Media Podcast
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There is something that happens when you get in a room with the right people that just cannot be replicated by
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a course, a podcast or a live stream.
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The energy shifts, the excuses fall away, and you leave with a level of clarity and momentum that you couldn't create on your own. The Think Media Mastermind is that room. It's a live, in person, two day event in Las Vegas. It's small by design, intensive, and by application only because we make sure the room is stacked with incredible creators and business owners. If you're serious about using YouTube to build your business or grow your side income, stop waiting and go apply right now@thinkmediamastermind.com all right, let's dive into today's podcast podcast.
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So YouTube just dropped a bombshell when it comes to the YouTube Partner Program and getting monetized on your channel. We're going to be Talking about the 10 things you need to know, but let's look at the headline facts. First of all, these changes are not taking effect until February 1, 2027. That's actually an opportunity that will hit later. Now the big change is for new creators to qualify for ads running on your videos. For YouTube premium revenue for getting paid on views, you're going to need eight qualified watch hours in the past year. That's double from the previous requirement of 4,000. And the subscriber requirement has not changed. If you have a thousand subscribers, that's still the threshold. Now in shorts, it used to be that you needed to get 10 million shorts views within the previous 90 days. They're doubling that to 20 million. And we'll talk a little bit more about YouTube's justification, some of their thinking and, and again, some of the opportunities in just a second. Now there's also some information about some extra bonuses for making money from shorts. And one thing that has not changed is the threshold for getting into the ypp. Now, this could be confusing. There's a difference between the YouTube Partner Program, the YPP, and actually getting paid for ads on your videos, premium revenue. And to get into just the YPP, which unlocks YouTube shopping, which unlocks channel memberships, which unlocks some perks, like that you still need 500 subscribers and 3,000 qualified watch hours. That's not changing. So there's kind of a tiered approach. But I understand this could feel very frustrating. In fact, let me know your feedback on this change in the comments that they're definitely moving the goalpost further for getting into making money on your videos. And check this out. If you're already in the White, the YouTube Partner Program. The new 8,000 hour rule threshold, the 20 million shorts threshold does not make you requalify. All right, we're going to break this down with some more nuances and the 10 things you need to know. Number one, YouTube has doubled the entry bar for premium revenue and for ad revenue, but not all monetization. So we just hit that. This means on February 1, 2027, if you were to start a new YouTube channel next year, you're going to need to hit a thousand subscribers and then you're going to need to get 8,000 qualified watch hours. And what is qual mean? It means the videos aren't private, the videos aren't unlisted. Some live streams don't apply. It's like verified videos. There's no funny business. So it's like public videos that YouTube considers legit. That needs to equal 8,000 qualified watch hours. And you have 365 days to do it. Those days are rolling. So it's like within the previous 365 days. And then you can, you know, apply to that next level. But the key is they did not double every monetization requirement just for ads and premium revenue. And again, the way you make money off of ads running on your videos is either one, that's ad revenue, or two, if people pay for YouTube Premium. And there's an interesting new thing that's happening with this. I'll hit in a second. If people pay for YouTube Premium, you get like a cut of that. So it's the same idea. You're getting paid for people watching your content. But in some cases it's ads and sometimes, in some cases it's premium revenue. If the viewer has YouTube Premium. Okay, okay. Number two, the 500 subscriber YPP tier is not going away. We just hit that. But at that tier, you can do fan funding, shopping, related opportunities, which is like YouTube's affiliate marketing that's built right in. You just don't have watch page ads or short feeds. Revenue number three, if you're already in the YouTube Partner Program, you don't have to re qualify for the 8,000 hours. That's pretty cool. So you are still subject to activity requirements, monetization policies and application monetization terms. We'll hit those in a second. But so long as you keep your account updated, the big idea is this is why you should get in now. Now, it's not like you're not trying, but if you want to get your channel monetized, you know it's going to Be a lot harder. February 1, 2027, the goal post is moved. But if you hit the 4000 watch hours before then, then you could get yourself grandfathered in. Number four, YouTube is adding specific activity requirements. I'd lean in for this part and I'd like and hype this video. If you're grateful for this information. Beginning February 1st, your channel is considered active. So you're in, you're qualified. Maybe you're, you're fluctuating. You've got some up and down results on your channel, but how do you stay active? Here's what they say. 1,000 qualified watch hours in the past 365 days, or 1 million qualified shorts views in the last 90 days. Or you've uploaded two long form videos and five shorts every 90 days. If you fall below those activity requirements, then you get a 90 day window to restore your active status or else you, you drop out. Now again, this is just the ypp, which is different than monetization. You know, you can fact check some of what I'm saying here, but you like it's going to be difficult if you're in the YouTube Partner Program, they're making it sort like you'd have to try hard to get kicked out. Like if you stay active, you're still getting watch hours. Like you can stay in the YouTube Partner Program. You might not get paid for views on your videos, but you'd still get your channel memberships and all that other stuff. You know, I'm curious your take on this one. This makes sense. YouTube's just like, is your account updated? Are you still posting? Are you still having some level of consumption happening on your channel? But the rabbit hole goes deeper and this whole update gets really interesting because shorts creators now have two numbers to understand. You need, starting February 1, 2027, 20 million views within 90 days to get paid on for ads on your shorts. So for new applicants qualifying for shorts, 20 million qualified shorts views in 90 days is the new ads premium threshold. But separately, beginning February 1st, and this one's kind of crazy, you then have to continue to get 10 million qualified shorts views every 90 days. So you need to get, starting February 1st, you need to get 20 million to get in and then you need to maintain 10 million qualified shorts views every 90 days to keep getting paid. And here's my understanding of this. Like I don't, and I've never, I don't think I've ever gotten close. There's been a couple times, right, a viral short, but on Think Media, on the Think Media Podcast channel. We don't get 10 million views, let alone 20 million views in 90 days. And my understanding is actually I will lose YouTube shorts revenue. We won't lose long form revenue. We're locked in, but we'll lose YouTube shorts revenue. So I'll read this. Missing that rolling 10 million dollar threshold doesn't remove you from the YPP or eliminate your long form earnings, but shorts revenue sharing automatically resumes and then you could get back in if you have to hit the threshold again. So by the way, I'm gonna do an FAQ at the end because you might be like, what are you saying? Like there's so much information or you might want to rewatch this video, but I think that one's interesting. Again, personally I, I will probably stop earning money from my YouTube shorts because I'm not hitting 10 million, but my long form will be fine. Number six, there's a contract deadline and you should handle this now if you are already in the ypp, especially if you're also already monetized and getting paid for views. Either way, you need to review and sign the new terms in YouTube Studio. Okay? So you have until February 1st to do it. What you're going to do is go into the YouTube studio, click on the Earn tab. If the updated terms are available on your channel, review, accept the application. And if you don't accept the new terms, you're not going to get kicked out of the ypp, but you can stop earning from the features tied to those terms. So if you're like, what? I didn't know that this was even happening. And you didn't accept the new terms. Mind you, you have a few months. But on February 1st you might be like, why is YouTube not paying me for my views? Now you gotta opt in. They're giving you quite a Runway to do it. So the action item here is check your YouTube studio and review the updated terms and accept the application agreement before February 1, 2027. Number seven. And this is interesting, Premium Lite is expanding, which is basically a cheaper version of YouTube Premium and this affects creators. So are you a YouTube Premium subscriber? Let me know. Do you pay for YouTube Premium? It's probably my favorite thing. I pay on my credit card every single month because, you know, no ads on my videos and all I do is watch YouTube all day. So YouTube Premium, the main tier is one thing, but there's also a premium light lower priced subscription plan. It was introduced in the US at 7.99 per month and it gives viewers an ad Free experience on most regular YouTube videos, plus background play on your mobile device and downloads on most videos. It's not the same as the full YouTube Premium, which is more expensive with ads can still appear on shorts, music, content, whatever. But here's why it matters for creators. So there's premium and there's Premium Light. That's for basically the consumers of YouTube. For creators, there's really three ways you're getting paid for views you can earn from ads playing on your video. If someone's not subscribed to Premium, you can earn from YouTube Premium when members watch you. And you can now earn from Premium Lite, which is a new pool of revenue, they're saying. But why this is something they highlighted is because for Premium, you get 30% of net subscription revenue that goes into the creator pool. So how does that work? A bunch of people that pay for premium throw money into a bucket and then there's some factor of however much of the money in that bucket, viewers watched your content, ads didn't play. But that bucket full of money, you're getting a calculation of that. So you're getting 30% of the net subscription revenue from premium. But for Premium Light, they're saying the number is 60%. And so the point is, is that if you're in the YouTube Partner Program plus you're getting, you've hit the 8,000 hours or only 4,000. If you get it done before February 1st, then basically, and I'll read this, so based on 2026 performance, creators earn more money on average when a viewer becomes a premium subscriber than when the same viewer watches through an ad supported experience. So they're saying that it's actually better for creators. You make more money if people watch on YouTube Premium. And then they're saying that now Premium Lite is basically being rolled out globally and more people around the world are going to be paying for it. And as people watch your content, you're earning even more for Premium Light depending on the success of that program. And bottom line is you make money when ads play, but they're saying you make even more money if premium subscribers watch your content. So we'll have to see what happens. But in theory, if you're in the program, your ad revenue could go up. And that's another fact you need to know that they updated. And so we're on number eight of ten. YouTube is adding new short incentive opportunities. And so I don't want to go too deep into this, but they're like, there's some shopping bonuses and production Credits and earning boost tied to cultural trend activations. But here's what's interesting. Even if you're below the 10 million view threshold for shorts revenue sharing, these new programs will create other ways for you to make money. Let's keep going. Number nine, YouTube itself is bigger than ever, especially shorts and TV. So they just announced this or they added it to this monetization update that you can read. I'll link this in the show notes in the YouTube description if you want to read YouTube's official blog. But now YouTube says more people are watching shorts. 200 billion shorts. Every single day, people now watch more than 200 billion shorts. It's a lot. That's not like an amount of time, that's an amount of shorts. So every single day, people are watching more than 200 billion shorts, and then viewers are watching more than 1 billion hours of YouTube on their TV every day. So that's, that's a, that's. Both of these are revenue, right? So if you think about how much long form revenue when people are consuming on TV and then you think about how much shorts revenue. But you pretty much gotta be a dedicated shorts creator if you're gonna, you know, be pulling that 10 million views every 90 days. But shorts channels certainly do that. And I think what they're trying to say is that this requirement means that YouTube is getting the require, the requirements are getting bigger because YouTube is getting bigger. But if you play the game at a bigger level, if you professionalize, if you don't complain, you don't get cynical, but you hit those numbers, I mean, we'll talk a little bit about. In fact, let's go to number 10. What they said is YouTube says that the higher bar is about more meaningful creator earnings. Now I can understand why this could kind of be a little bit offensive because what they were trying to say is like, you know, for some people that are like barely in the program, 4,000 watch hours, a thousand subs, they're not even hitting the minimum threshold payouts. And so it's not meaningful money. Now that could be a little bit tone deaf because I think that 50 bucks or 100 bucks for individuals can be meaningful. Who are they to decide whether it's meaningful or not? So you tell me your feelings about that. But YouTube stated rationale is that you need to be hitting bigger numbers anyways to be making quote unquote, meaningful money. And so meaningful is subjective. So smaller, irregular payouts can still feel meaningful. Like maybe you don't hit the payment threshold every month, but every Four months, you get some money back for the content that you're creating. And So I understand YouTube's argument, but meaningful to YouTube and meaningful to the creator are not the same thing. So I want to hit an FAQ in a second, but let's talk about two bonus opportunities. I mean, and basically action items. Number one, get in now. I mean, that's the action item. In fact, you could go check in your back end and tell me in the comments, what are you at? How many watch hours are you at? 2,500 watch hours, 3,000 watch hours? Because it's time to push. You know, make sure to subscribe to this channel and also watch. We have a weekly podcast called the Think Media Podcast. We're here to help you hit those goals. So if you subscribe and lock in, because let's make the final months of 2026, and then we basically have January and then it's February 1st and this new thing's rolling out. Get to your 4,000 hours. You know, some things you could do is not just prioritize strong topics, master packaging, improve your hooks and your videos. You know, think about viewer satisfaction. But one strategy, let me know if you want me to talk more about it would be doing like content marathons. I don't have really time to go into it, but let me know if you'd want more in the comments. It's basically doing a strategic series and then eventually stitching that series together. In fact, if you watch YouTube, kids, have you ever seen it's like three hours of Peppa the Pig, you know, what do they do? They took smaller episodes of Peppa the Pig and then they stitched them all together. As a dad of a, you know, six and four year old, this is like, you know, something that we are used to. Imagine you did that. Imagine you made smaller episodes on YouTube, but eventually you stitched them together. It's a good way to hack watch time and in an ethical, cool way. And so just know that even though the goal post is moving, it hasn't moved yet. So put in the hustle between now and February. And then let me also encourage you, you're still one video away. And I'm not trying to just be like overly optimistic. YouTube growth is not linear. I get the grind. I get posting videos for years, not really having much breakout success and taking like a few steps forward. A hundred views that here, a thousand views there, but you're one video away from 10,000 views. You're one video away from a hundred thousand views. The right topic at the right time with the right packaging. And so I see it all the time. One video could get you 3,000 watch hours. One video could get you 12,000 watch hours. Get you into the program, get you monetized, start earning, and so keep working. You know, I understand this could be discouraging, but double down. And then, by the way, I'll hit this faq. But if you're like, give me some action steps to do next. I'll link this up in the comments. Nathan Eswine and I, Nathan is the co host of our Think Media podcast. We did a deep dive YouTube masterclass that's like, updated with what's working now on YouTube. You know, it's about an hour long. And I'll link that up in the show notes. And it'll also be the end card after this video because rather than, you know, complain or worry too much about the changes, let's freaking lock in right now. It's time to get our mind right or focused on, you know, right and, you know, punch fear in the face. Punch perfectionism in the face. And hit record. Okay, quick FAQ. Do existing creators have to hit 8, 000 watch hours every year? No, you do not have to hit 8,000watch hours every year. 8,000is the new entry threshold starting in February 1, 2027. But if you're already in the YPP, you don't have to re qualify at that. So this is a good time to hustle and get in. All right, second FAQ. What if you don't get 10 million shorts views every 90 days? Are you kicked out of the YPP? No, you stay in. And if you're over there with long form as well on your channel, it's not affected. But you would stop earning shorts, ads and subscription revenue until you cross the threshold again. That's kind of frustrating. Like, Dang it, last 90 days, I only got 8 million views on shorts. Now I'm back in. Now I'm back out. Snip, snap, snip, snap. You know, Michael Scott, the Office. And so that's what it is. I, I mean, I, I want to wrap my mind around that. Do they just hold your money and then you unlock it again if you hit it? Or do you literally lose it over the last 90 days? Maybe if somebody from YouTube's watching this, I'd love to know in the comments that particular question. That one's a little bit confusing. Next question. If I'm already monetized with long form, do my shorts automatically make money now? Not anymore under the new rules. So beginning February 1, shorts ads and subscription revenue have their own requirement. So beginning February 1st, I'm guessing I'm going to stop making money from shorts. I don't really focus on them that much. We don't do a ton and I might say think media, this our tech channel, cameras and all the stuff we talk about. We, you know, we, we got a whole shorts plan rolling out, so that could be a different story. And maybe, you know, in the future I'll focus more on shorts, but I'm mainly obsessed with long form and I'll probably lose my shorts revenue, all $6.42 of it. All right, next question. Can I still get into the YouTube Partner Program with only 500 subscribers? Yes. The lower tier isn't changing. 500 subscribers plus 3,000 qualified watch hours will get you 3 million qualified shorts views. But that tier does not unlock ad or premium revenue sharing. And then what happens if I don't accept the new terms before February 1st? You're not automatically kicked out, but you might stop earning. So go into your back end, go to the Earn tab in YouTube Studio and handle this before February 1st so
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we can all see it. The economy is shifting fast. Old strategies are just not working anymore. And if you aren't adapting right now, you are missing out on massive opportunity. That's why we created our Think Media Mastermind, which, which is a two day event that happens in Las Vegas. And you can check out details@thinkmediamastermind.com when you go to that website, you'll fill out an application. This isn't for everybody. We have a very strict criteria to make sure that the right people are in the room. And so if you're an entrepreneur or a creator that wants to scale their online business, then go to the website and apply soon. Because seating is extremely limited for this very intimate gathering, you can check it out@thinkmediamastermind.com.