Cable broadcaster Usen Corp. and Internet services firm Livedoor Co. linked their Web portals Tuesday in the first step toward an alliance between the two companies, the firms said.
The links direct the 15 million users of the Livedoor site to Usen's GyaO content site and GyaO's 8.5 million users to the Livedoor site, they said.
Usen announced the business alliance March 16, aimed at rescuing Livedoor, whose founder, Takafumi Horie, and four other former executives have been charged with accounting fraud.
Usen President Yasuhide Uno personally bought Fuji Television Network Inc.'s entire 12.74 percent stake in the Internet services firm for a reported 9.5 billion yen.