Both YPP tiers, what counts toward the thresholds, and why meeting every number is still not sufficient.
The YPP eligibility thresholds are specific, dated, and change more often than most pages admit. This is the current position and when we last checked it.
The lower tier requires 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days. It unlocks fan funding, shopping and the earlier payout tier.
The upper tier requires 500 subscribers and either 3,000 watch hours or 3 million Shorts views over the same windows, alongside a 1,000-subscriber requirement for access to the most sought-after surface.
Both tiers are reviewed per channel, and an approval at one level does not imply the other.
Public watch hours and public Shorts views. Private, unlisted and ad-gated content does not accumulate toward either threshold, and neither does traffic that YouTube cannot attribute to a view.
Shorts views accumulate far faster than watch hours, which is why short-form-first channels typically qualify on the Shorts route. The two windows differ too: 90 days for Shorts, 12 months for hours.
This is the practical reason short-form-only channels sometimes wait longer than expected: they are optimising for a fast-moving 90-day window on a channel that has not been running long enough.
Producing with AI does not disqualify a channel from the programme. The inauthentic content policy is a separate judgement about originality and repetition, and it is what determines eligibility.
The practical consequence is that a channel can meet every numeric threshold and still be declined, because the thresholds are necessary rather than sufficient. Channel review looks at the content itself.
We are not aware of any published guidance stating that AI-assisted production reduces the likelihood of approval. Anyone telling you the numeric thresholds are all that matters is describing a channel that will pass review.
Shorts revenue is pooled and paid on a share basis rather than per-view, so the rate an individual channel sees depends on the pool, its geography and its engagement. Published RPM figures for Shorts vary enormously and mostly reflect the publisher's selection.
Treat any specific RPM number you find, including ours, as an estimate with a wide error bar rather than a forecast. Nobody can promise a figure for an unrepresentative channel.
ReelsAudio renders faceless episodes with consistent voice and music, varied structure, and loudness normalised per platform.