The appointment follows criticism by television and radio executives of the decision by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting earlier this year to create its own office of ombudsman to monitor programs financed by the Public Broadcasting System.
Though hinted at in January by Michael Capellas, the chief executive of Compaq, the decision came as a boost to Hewlett-Packard's campaign against its dissident director, Walter B. Hewlett, who is leading a proxy fight against the deal.
"You had to believe that gas was available long term" at reasonable prices, Mr. Johnson, Progress's chief executive, said of the decision.
But one senior executive informed of the decision to fire Mr. Sheen said that the fact that the series was not canceled Monday was an indication that an effort was under way to produce another season.
"It is absolutely enormous," said Nottinghamshire chief executive Derek Brewer of the decision to award his county Ashes Tests in consecutive series.
Ford's top 300 executives learned of the decision on Aug. 1, in a memorandum from David Murphy, the Ford executive vice president who is in charge of human resources.
It sent the name to the bankrupt media company's unsecured creditors committee, said an executive with knowledge of the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Transport for Greater Manchester's chief executive, Jon Lamonte, said of the decision: "It reinforces the need for new legislation under the buses bill.
"It's just fiscally prudent," Wallace Chappell, the company's executive director, said of the decision, which is to be formally announced today.
"We need the space for arts groups and artists," Susan Robinson, the center's executive director, said of the decision not to renew the club's annual lease when it expires in August.
