Knowing that most small business people would rather watch TV than log on to the Internet, Ma secured advertisements for Taobao on major TV channels.

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"I think his injury is very bad, " opines Ma Jian, a TV commentator who played for the Chinese national team.

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It also coaxed 200, 000 new U-verse TV subscribers and 613, 000 high-speed internet users to sign up with Ma 'Bell.

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