After he graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit, Tony enrolled at Specs Howard School of Media Arts. In 1986, Ortiz began his radio career as an intern at WXYT-AM, where he later he gained a paid position with the station. He first worked as a producer for Michigan State basketball and football. In 1991, Ortiz left WXYT-AM and joined sister station WWJ, going on to produce Detroit Lions football.[2]
In 1994, Ortiz moved from Detroit to work in Houston, TX at KTRH as a reporter and show host covering Houston sports.[2] Ortiz moved from KTRH to competing Houston sports station in KILT in 1999 [2] before returning to Detroit in 2001.[2]
Current roles
Since 2001 from 2016, Ortiz has provided sideline reports for the Detroit Lions Radio Network.[4] He also co-hosted the network's pre-game show The Lions Roundtable and flagship station WXYT-FM's local pre-game show Lions Game Day.[5] He was joined by play-by-play announcer Dan Miller and color commentatorJim Brandstatter, and on The Lions Round Table, Detroit Free Press Lions beat writer Nick Cotsonika. He is also a Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers beat reporter for WXYT-FM / AM and provides sports updates during the breaks of some WXYT-FM / AM and WWJ shows. He also hosts a weekly Lions discussion show on the station during the regular season. He also appears on Fox 2 SportsWorks, WJBK-TV's weekly local Detroit sports talk show. He also frequently appears on WJBK Sports segments such as Lions Beat Writer Cross Fire.[6]