YouTube’s new Partner Program standards are tailored to live-streaming creators

For the second time this year, YouTube has introduced a new set of qualifications for its Partner Program. After bringing ads to YouTube Shorts on February 1, the leading video is now catering to live-streaming creators who rack up thousands of hours of watch time.

Since debuting the Partner Program in 2007, YouTube has tinkered with its eligibility requirements on several occasions. Long-form video creators previously gained access to the Program by accruing 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of public watch time over a 12-month period. When Shorts ads arrived in February, YouTube slackened its Partner Program parameters. Creators who haven’t received 4,000 hours of yearly watch time can still qualify for revenue sharing if their Shorts have received 10 million views over 90 days.

The latest set of Partner Program terms cater to a third class of YouTube creators. In a post announcing the changes, YouTube highlighted live-streaming stars like Emily D. Baker, who earn revenue from fan-funding features like Super Chat and Channel Memberships.

Thanks to YouTube’s update, more creators will be able to benefit from those features. The Partner Program is now open to any channel with at least 500 subscribers, at least 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3000 watch hours in the past year or three million Shorts views in the last 90 days. Notably, creators who qualify for the Partner Program via the new means of entry will not be able to run ads until they meet the previous requirements.

“As these creators continue to grow their channel, they’ll automatically become eligible to earn revenue sharing from ads and even more benefits once they reach the existing YPP eligibility criteria, without having to go through the full YPP application process again,” reads a YouTube blog post. “These existing eligibility requirements to unlock revenue sharing remain unchanged.”

The reduced subscriber prerequisite will benefit all YouTube creators, whether they produce long-form videos, short-form clips, or live broadcasts. The platform’s representatives have encouraged users to utilize all three of those content types. The result, according to YouTube, is the birth of the “multiformat” creator — and the new Partner Program terms make that approach more feasible.

Increasingly, the live-streaming piece of that pie is contributing revenue through monetization sources that aren’t ads. In its post, YouTube noted that the number of channels earning a majority of their revenue from Fan Funding features has increased by 20% year-over-year (as of December 2022).

YouTube has also announced updates for its ecommerce operation. It is expanding its YouTube Shopping affiliate program so that any Partner Program member with at least 20,000 subscribers can join. Creators who sell on their streams will be able to reap “competitive commission rates” in the process, according to YouTube.

These updates are likely to be at the center of YouTube’s keynote address at VidCon Anaheim in 2023. The platform is returning as the convention’s title sponsor for the first time since 2019.