Ian Noah “Sandy” Wheeler, the first owner and general manager of WFTS, Channel 28, died Saturday. May 31 in Daniel Island, S.C. He was 73.

Wheeler and his wife, Martha, lived in the Tampa Bay area in the 1980s and were active in politics and charities. Martha Wheeler, a Republican who was active in George H, W. Bush’s presidential campaign, made an unsuccessful bid for the Florida House of Representatives in 1986.

The Wheelers had put five television stations on the air when their Family Group Broadcasting Inc. rounded up investors and obtained a license from the Federal Communications Commission for WFTS. The station went on the air in December 1981. The call letters stood for W- Family Television Station.

Early programming included John Wayne movies and reruns of “I Love Lucy” and “The Andy Griffith Show.”

“Sandy” Wheeler billed the station as wholesome and family friendly and an alternative to the other broadcast networks.

He once pulled a movie off the air 15 minutes after it had started because it offended him.  Wheeler was at home watching Channel 28’s showing of the 1972 Neil Simon comedy “The Heartbreak Kid.” When he saw a bedroom scene in which a woman’s back was revealed, he called the station and told the staff to shut off the film.

In 1984, Family Group Broadcasting sold WFTS for $30 million. The station eventually became a Fox affilate and then an ABC affilate.

Wheeler’s company tried to develop several other stations but without success. 

Born in Huntington, N.Y., Wheeler graduated from the University of Alabama. He worked at TV stations in Washington, D.C., Topeka, Kansas; Charlotte, N.C; and Nashville, Tenn. He also owned stations Cape Coral, Fl., Green Bay, Wis. and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

He and his wife had lived in Daniel Island for nine years.