Tokyo – The Fuji Television and Nippon Television networks have inked a deal to each take 7 percent stakes in Gyao, a free-video portal whose corporate parent is Yahoo!. Yahoo!, which currently owns a 51 percent stake in Gyao, has agreed to buy an additional 14 percent in the portal from broadband powerhouse Usen to maintain its majority stake after Fuji TV and NTV’s acquistion goes through in mid-September. In partnership with Yahoo!, Fuji TV and NTV plan to offer pay services while building Gyao into a domestic competitor to YouTube. Gyao’s pay service will see Fuji’s branded channel called Fuji Online featuring dramas, variety shows and other network content. NTV has similar plans, but has yet to supply details. The announcement of the deal did not disclose amounts paid for the shares. Usen owns a 49 percent stake in Gyao. Launched in April 2005 by Usen, Gyao offers a wide range of free video content, including TV shows, toons and concerts. The site’s ad-based business model has been slow to turn a profit, however, even with more than 20 million registered users. Bleeding red ink, Usen sold a majority interest Gyao to Yahoo in April of this year for $5.7 million.