Every host city has established broadcasting companies such as BOB during the past few Olympics. These companies produce and provide TV broadcast signals for stations around the world. The BOB is co-founded by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), a Swiss company created by the IOC.

"[My position] is just like a housekeeper for the company," explained Ma, adding that a COO needs to ensure the unity of the team and make sure all goes as planned.

As director of CCTV's sports center, Ma was kept busy arranging broadcast timetables for international sporting events. Now as a company COO, he makes sure he connects with BOB's headquarters in Europe each day given there's a seven-hour time difference among there and Beijing.

Ma thinks his advantage over foreign managers lies in his familiarity with the local environment, making it easier to coordinate relationships between different groups.

"I worked for so many years in CCTV and I'm familiar with the broadcasting and television industry in China," said Ma. "I know which unit is good at producing television signals and because of this I can give suggestions to the CEO and the board of BOB, to save some costs for the Olympics in another way."

Ma's decisive management style has also created controversy. But Ma dismisses this. "Being strong in leadership, or being uncompromising, is a must for management," he said. "I have to be decisive and no hesitation is ever allowed. We have to be responsible to the global audience."

The BOB promise

During the 17-day Olympic Games, BOB will serve 200 television companies globally, facilitate 12,000 TV workers and broadcast to billions of spectators. Thousands of kilometers of wires will be laid, 1,000 cameras set up, and an 80,000-square-meter International Broadcasting Center will be completed in order to bring the games into their homes.

"We have to make sure every detail lives up to the highest standard," said Ma. "The background color of the studio, how many chairs are needed and where to place them-we want everything perfectly settled. The core staff of BOB worked during the past couple Olympics. By 2008 the staff will increase to 4,000, half of them from outside the country. It really means something to us that we have the chance to work here for the BOB."

In Ma's eyes, the management system of BOB is both new and mature. "For the host country the company is something brand new, but the setup and functions of the company are mature, scientific and efficient," said Ma. "Every broadcasting company is a copy that's been made according to strict procedures. Not a single fault is allowed.

"For the Beijing Games, we will produce some 3,800 hours of live broadcasts," said Ma. This estimate has been calculated based on the various events, though could be exceeded if certain matches go overtime, Ma added.

What is groundbreaking is that the BOB will use high-definition signals for all the games and matches for the first time ever in the Olympics. "The 2008 Beijing Games will be a milestone in TV broadcasting history, just like when color TV overtook black and white," Ma said proudly.