When we look at the last five years on YouTube, one trend stands out more than most: the rise of YouTube Premium.
Back in 2019, Premium had around 18 million subscribers. In 2024, that number crossed 100 million. In March 2025, they already had 125 million, so we’ll see what the end of the year shows.
That’s still a sliver of YouTube’s billions of users, but in 2025, it already drives up to ~30% of creator revenue on Premium-leaning channels. That could be a serious shift in your YouTube monetization strategies. Let’s see what to do with it.
YouTube Premium Revenue in 2025
There was a time when Premium revenue was just a line item in your monthly report. A little bonus that made you smile, but didn’t change much.
That’s over.
Now you can see more than 5% of your income from YouTube Premium. Many creators, who have Premium, make up 15%, even 30% of their total revenue.
How 5% Premium Viewers Can Drive 15-30% of Your YouTube Revenue
5% Premium viewers ≠ automatically get 15-30% of revenue. If Premium users are 5% of views and they watch ~3× longer, they become ≈15% of your watch time; if a Premium minute is worth ~0.9-1.2× an ad-supported minute, that converts to ≈13-18% of revenue (e.g., 5% × 3 × 1.1 ≈ 16.5%).
Hitting 25-30% needs a stacked scenario: Premium-heavy geos (US/EU), long-form/background-friendly content driving ~4-5× sessions, and/or lower ad fill on your regular views (so Premium $/min outperforms) → 5% × 5 × 1.2 ≈ 30%.
Conversely, Shorts-heavy channels or audiences in low-Premium markets may see ~3-10% (e.g., 5% × 1.5 × 0.9 ≈ 6.8%). So, 15-30% is achievable but not typical, it depends on your session-length multiplier and $ per minute differential, not the raw % of Premium viewers.
And in high-value geographies like Germany, South Korea, and the US, the per-minute payouts from Premium views are regularly higher than from ad-supported views.
So, while everyone’s worried about ad-blockers (and they should be), Premium users are completely immune to that threat. They watch without ads, but creators still get paid. And in some cases, get paid better.
This is one of the most overlooked aspects in the platform’s recent evolution.
YouTube Is Pushing Premium Revenue Growth
YouTube isn’t waiting for Premium to grow on its own, it’s stacking the deck. In Jan 2025, Premium picked up real perks that make sessions longer and stickier:
- higher-quality audio, faster mobile playback
- “Jump ahead” to the most-watched parts on web
- plus PiP + smart downloads for Shorts on iOS.
On pricing and plans, YouTube tightened the funnel: the baseline individual plan sits at $13.99, while Premium Lite arrived in the U.S. at $7.99 as an ad-free viewing tier without Music, downloads, or background play, a classic “good/better/best” ladder that widens the top while preserving ARPU on full Premium.
More people pay something, and more total money in the Premium pool creators share by watch time.
Finally, YouTube started enforcing “same household” on Family plans. Accounts outside the home are getting re-verified or losing benefits notices. That closes leakage and nudges fence-sitters into the right paid tier. Again, more stable subscription dollars are flowing into the pool that pays creators.
Ad Revenue vs. Premium Revenue in 2025
Ads pay you a cut of what advertisers spend; Premium pays you a cut of member fees.
For long-form Watch Page ads, creators earn 55% of net ad revenue; for Shorts, creators share a 45% pool. YouTube Premium is separate: member fees are pooled and distributed by Premium watch time on your videos (it’s not tied to ad impressions), and YouTube says the majority of that subscription revenue goes to partners.
If Premium viewers rack up disproportionate minutes (background play, downloads), Premium can become a double-digit slice even when those viewers are a single-digit slice of your audience. Track it in Studio: Revenue → “Your revenue sources.”
May 2025 Ad Revenue Changes
YouTube’s tightened the rules on ad revenue this year.
Auto Mid-Rolls, Now Platform-Placed
Starting May 12, YouTube can drop auto mid-rolls across your catalog, including older videos.
- It finds natural pauses (scene breaks, transitions) and inserts extra slots.
- Your manual breaks stay; auto just layers on top.
- Control stays with you: toggle off channel-wide or per video.
Limited Ads → Auto Re-Review (No Appeal Needed)
Limited-ads (yellow icon) now auto-triggers a re-review (often human) without you filing an appeal.
- If the content’s clean, it turns green on its own.
- If it stays yellow, assume the call is intentional.
- Reviews can take up to 24 hours.
See more about these YouTube updates →
YouTube ads and Premium aren’t rivals; they’re parallel revenue machines. Ads reward market demand + smart placement (clean mid-rolls, green icons, high-RPM geos). Premium rewards minutes (backgroundable long-form, podcasts, chill/live loops)/
Measure: In Studio → Revenue, track Premium share %, RPM by geo/format, and minutes per viewer; set a 90-day goal (e.g., +3-5 pp Premium share) and iterate.
The Shift in Audience Behavior
You probably noticed the subtle changes in your analytics. Maybe you’ve seen longer watch sessions. More binge behavior. Slight increases in average view duration without doing much differently. That’s Premium.
Premium users don’t click away during mid-rolls. They don’t skip because of ads. They’re more likely to let the next video autoplay. And because YouTube knows they’re subscribers, the platform wants to keep them happy. Which means your content gets pushed more if Premium viewers enjoy it.
It’s how retention works.
Watch time from Premium users has more weight in algorithmic decisions than it gets credit for. It tells YouTube, "this person pays, and they’re sticking around for this video." That's a powerful signal.
This Premium audience impact is subtle, but significant. It changes how your channel grows, how long people stay, and how often your videos get recommended.
Why This is a Monetization Wake-Up Call
Premium is YouTube’s long-term hedge against ad-blockers, brand safety chaos, and declining ad fill rates in some markets. They're nudging users toward Premium at every turn, with pop-ups, ad fatigue, and more aggressive server-side ad stitching. That means the ad-supported audience is slowly becoming smaller, and more ad-impression-dependent creators will feel the squeeze.
But Premium views are more reliable and increasingly valuable.
And as a creator, that means you need to optimize not for more ad views, but for more watch time. Especially from Premium users. Because they’re not here for the clickbait. They’re here to watch. And they tend to watch longer.
The Premium Audience ≠ The General Audience
Premium viewers behave differently. And that affects what works.
They binge, pay attention to pacing, and value quality production. They don’t want videos padded out just to add a mid-roll. They’re more likely to return to channels they trust. And they care more about convenience and quality than most.
So, if you’ve been cutting corners because "most people just click off anyway," you’re losing Premium revenue.
This is why we encourage creators to build for bingeability. Not only retention within a video, but across a session. When someone finishes a video, what’s next? If you can keep Premium users inside your content loop, your revenue becomes dramatically more stable.
Not All Minutes are Equal Anymore
Ad-supported watch time is not equal to Premium watch time.
We ran data across dozens of channels. One case stood out. A creator in the education niche had a US-heavy audience. After optimizing their structure for longer-form, Premium jumped from 9% to 18% of their monthly income. No big change in views. Just more watch time from people who paid.
And a Premium user watching 20 minutes uninterrupted is worth more than two ad-supported viewers watching 8 minutes each.
It adds up, especially in niches like tech reviews, deep dives, fitness, education, or commentary, where Premium engagement is highest.
What You Need to Know about YouTube Premium Revenue
The more reliant creators are on traditional ad monetization, the more unstable their revenue has become. Mid-rolls are getting skipped. Ad-blockers are evolving. Ad fill is inconsistent.
Meanwhile, YouTube Premium growth is accelerating.
YouTube gets steady subscription income. Creators get paid from the pool based on watch time. And viewers get a better experience. It’s a cleaner system.
The Strategic Shift for 2025
If you’re not already tracking your Premium split, start today. Go to YouTube Analytics > Revenue > Transaction Revenue. Break it down by country and video type.
Identify which of your videos are getting the most Premium traction. Study session times. Double down on that format.
And if you’re wondering how to grow with a Premium-friendly channel without sacrificing your core audience, AIR Media-Tech can help you. We work with creators to build revenue strategies that fix gaps and unlock new income paths.
That includes:
- Optimizing content flow for Premium retention.
- Regional targeting for high Premium RPM zones.
- Rebuilding back catalogs to resurface bingeable content.
This is about aligning with the direction YouTube is already heading. Premium is now central to sustainable YouTube monetization strategies.
Need help with Premium?
We help creators boost watch time, decode revenue, and adapt fast. Got questions? Just reach out, we’ve got your back.
Make Premium Work for You
If you’re thinking about long-term revenue stability, you can’t afford to ignore YouTube Premium growth anymore.
We’re already helping creators transition their monetization strategies to reflect this shift. If you want to understand how Premium fits into your channel’s future and how to build around it, get in touch with us today.
Let’s make sure you're on the right side of the right monetization strategy.
