The free program, known as YouTube Insight, also could help bands schedule their concerts and help anyone time the release of a new video.

A movie studio that uploads a trailer for free on YouTube could use those details to see where the clip is most popular and perhaps buy ads targeted to users in that region _ on YouTube and even on television.

But everyday contributors also can benefit from the new program, said Tracy Chan, a YouTube program manager. Until now, those users got limited information, such as how many times their video was viewed or commented on.

The new tools "give a lot of context around the performance of video over time, where are your audience coming from and how your message is connecting to your audience," Chan said.

"With this information, you can concentrate on creating compelling new content that appeals to your target audiences and post these videos on days you know these viewers are on the site," YouTube officials said in a blog entry announcing the program.

Upcoming features may indicate how viewers find a video, through a search, an outside link or YouTube's share-with-a-friend feature, Chan said.

Unlike the total viewership counts, the detailed information will be available only to the user who uploaded the video.

The new viewership breakdowns, like the current ones, will count on the number of times users start a video but not necessarily how many finish it. Geographic information is based on viewers' numeric Internet Protocol address, the same mechanism Google uses to target ads by region.

Some data will still be limited to paid advertisers, including information on how many viewers make it through 25 percent, 50 percent or all of a video