Why do you call him a "Spiff Character"?
Did his mother and father name him "Spiff" at birth? Is that the name on his birth certificate?
Yes, there were many years when WFOX-FM Fox 97.1 had very high ratings and big $$$$$$$ ad rates. Fox 97 was killed over time by being sold so many times and the playlist being shrinked smaller and smaller into the late 1990`s and early 2000`s.... Cox Radio really killed off Fox 97 after they bought it in 2000.... It took a few years, but getting rid of J.J. Jackson was the first mistake.
So, you're saying that the station was really great, and Spiff was a part of it. But Spiff wasn't such a great personality, such a compelling DJ that he could maintain great ratings when the changed the playlist on him. Which simply proves what I've been saying all along -- it ain't the DJ that makes the station, it's the music.
That answers my questions better than you even realize.
And, as an aside to the performer who portrays the character "Spiff" on the radio, I mean no personal offense to you. I'm sure you're good at what you do. I assume that the hero-worship of a certain poster in here might be reaching the level of being embarrassing to you, just as it's causing workplace tension problems for your former co-worker.