Enter the qualified public watch hours shown in YouTube Studio → Earn, plus daily views and average view duration, to model a straight-line path toward your selected goal. It plans a date, not a deadline; to check whether you reach 4,000 hours by January 31, 2027, use the Watch Hours Deadline Calculator.
Use qualified public watch hours from YouTube Studio → Earn.
Use eligible views from public long-form videos or archived live streams.
Enter your channel metrics
For new applicants, the watch-hour route requires 4,000 qualified public watch hours in the prior 12 months through January 31, 2027, or 8,000 qualified public watch hours in the prior 365 days from February 1, 2027.
Use 4,000 hours for the current long-form route through January 31, 2027, or 8,000 hours for new ads and YouTube Premium applicants from February 1, 2027. Both routes also require 1,000 subscribers.
Add your qualified watch hours from YouTube Studio, average public long-form views per day, and average view duration. Do not include Shorts-feed watch time in the long-form route.
See the estimated target date, watch hours remaining, and daily watch-hour rate. If the pace misses the 4,000-hour deadline or runs beyond 365 days, Kabo shows the daily views needed under the same straight-line assumptions.
The long-form threshold depends on when a new applicant seeks ads and YouTube Premium revenue. Reaching either watch-hour number alone is not enough: the route also requires 1,000 subscribers and a successful channel review.
| Application timing | Long-form target | Measurement window |
|---|---|---|
| Through January 31, 2027 | 1,000 subscribers + 4,000 qualified public watch hours | Previous 12 months |
| From February 1, 2027 for new applicants | 1,000 subscribers + 8,000 qualified public watch hours | Previous 365 days |
Thresholds, effective date, and the treatment of existing YPP channels come from YouTube's official update. Read the official rule (checked 2026-08-31).
Daily watch hours equal average public long-form views per day × average view duration in seconds ÷ 3,600. Kabo subtracts your current qualified hours from the selected target, divides the remaining hours by that daily rate, rounds up to a whole day, and adds those days to today's date. This is a straight-line planning estimate, not a monetization or approval date.
Use the qualified public watch-hour total shown in YouTube Studio → Earn. Watch time from public long-form videos, podcasts, and eligible archived public live streams can count. Private, unlisted, or deleted videos, ad-campaign views, and watch time from the Shorts feed do not count toward this long-form route.
No. YouTube measures qualified hours over a rolling 365-day window, so older hours can expire while new hours arrive. This calculator holds the entered daily views and average view duration constant and does not know when your existing hours were earned. A date beyond 365 days—or beyond January 31, 2027 for the 4,000-hour route—is a pace warning, not a promise that the accumulated total will still be available.
Test a stronger opening, then recalculate with fresh public views and average view duration from YouTube Studio.
It converts daily public long-form views and average view duration into watch hours per day, divides the remaining watch hours by that rate, and rounds up to the first whole day you could cross the selected target. The estimate assumes the pace stays unchanged.
Not for new applicants seeking ads and YouTube Premium revenue. Starting February 1, 2027, that long-form entry route changes to 1,000 subscribers plus 8,000 qualified public watch hours in 365 days. Existing YPP channels are not moved to the new entry threshold.
No. Watch time from the Shorts feed does not count toward the 4,000- or 8,000-hour long-form route. Shorts have a separate qualified-views route for YPP eligibility.
Yes. Both the current and 2027 ads and YouTube Premium long-form routes require 1,000 subscribers in addition to the applicable watch-hour target. YouTube also reviews the channel against its monetization policies.
Daily views, average view duration, and the hours aging out of the rolling 365-day window can all change. Recalculate with fresh YouTube Studio figures; the displayed date is a straight-line planning estimate, not a guarantee from YouTube.
Enter average view duration from YouTube Studio, not the full video length. The calculation needs the average amount of watch time generated by each public long-form view.
No. The calculator estimates watch-hour pace only. You still need the required subscriber count, hours that qualify within the rolling window, an eligible country or region, and approval through YouTube's channel review.
No. The calculation runs locally in your browser. Kabo does not need your email or store the watch-hour, view, and duration figures you enter.
