Ryan Burrow has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

The NFL saw a 12% increase in viewership during Week 1 of the regular season.  An average of 21 million people watched each NFL game.  In total 123 million Americans saw at least part of a game.  The Chief’s Thursday night win over the Ravens was the most watched with 29.2 viewers.  The record number of first week viewers came, despite CBS not being able to air early games in certain markets like Chicago in competition with the Bears game, which was on FOX.

Also, there’s a convention currently in Chicago that dwarfs the Democratic National Convention last month. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Tom Gimbel, job expert and founder of the LaSalle Network, joins John to talk about the ‘realistic’ labor report released last Friday, and why he thinks that believing in yourself isn’t as important as being motivated when looking for a job.

Segment 2: Philippe Weiss, President, Seyfarth at Work, talks to John about the rise in ‘robo-relationships’ and what companies need to watch out for in the workplace.

Segment 3: Tom Appel, Publisher, Consumer Guide Automotive and host of the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast, joins John Williams to talk about Volkswagen’s deal with Rivian, the status of industry car shows, the future of in-car advertising, the approachability of EVs, and his thoughts on the Cybertruck.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

Chicago-based TransUnion has been fined by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission for violating whistleblower protection laws. TransUnion is among seven companies that have agreed to pay fines over charges that involved employment, separation and other agreements that violated rules prohibiting actions that impede whistleblowers from reporting potential misconduct to the SEC. TransUnion’s fine was $312,000. The SEC says the company required employees to waive their right to possible whistleblower monetary awards. TransUnion is one of the three major credit-reporting agencies.

Also, Crain’s Chicago Business is out with its list of the Chicago area’s top 25 law firms. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Ilyce Glink, owner of Think Glink Media and Best Money Moves, joins John to talk about the recent NAR settlement and how it is impacting buyers and sellers, and her takeaways from Friday’s August labor report.

Segment 2: Jim Dallke, Director of Communications, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, tells John about Chicago not ranking in the top 20 in the US and Canada for tech talent, how Chicago universities rank when it comes to producing successful startup founders, and a Chicago startup that helps amateur sports betters win more bets.

Segment 3: Chef Joe Decker, Partner, Lettuce Entertain You, Executive Chef, Wildfire, talks to John about Wildfire in Glenview celebrating their 20th anniversary!

Segment 1: Jane Oates, Senior Policy Advisor and recent President, WorkingNation, talks to John Williams to break down the August labor report. What were Jane’s biggest takeaways from the report?

Segment 2: Amy Danzer, Program Director, Printers Row Lit Fest, tells John everything we need to know about this weekend’s Lit Fest!

Segment 3: Chris Gladwin, CEO of Ocient and board chair at P33 Chicago, joins John Williams to talk about the second annual Chicago Climate Tech Week, the importance of addressing climate, how technology is taking on climate change, and why Chicago is a leader in climate technology.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

Frequent-flyer programs of the top four U.S. airlines, including Chicago’s United Airlines, are being investigated. The Department of Transportation has launched the probe to determine whether the programs involve deceptive or anti-competitive practices by the airlines. The investigation will also look into programs at American, Delta and Southwest. The Department of Transportation has ordered the airlines to submit records about their rewards programs, which generate billions of dollars annually for the carriers. The feds also want to see any customer complaints received by the airlines. In some cases, the rewards programs generate more revenue than flight operations. The programs encompass credit card, consumer incentive, loyalty and frequent flier programs.

Also, American Airlines says it will launch flights from Chicago to Madrid next year. Listen for more below:

A new report shows Illinois, California and New Jersey have the highest concentrations of at-risk housing markets in the country. The report was compiled by ATTOM, a curator of land, property, and real estate data. The Special Housing Risk Report spotlights county-level housing markets vulnerable to declines, based on home affordability, underwater mortgages and other measures. It found some of the biggest clusters were around Chicago, New York City and inland California. The locations around Chicago include parts of Cook, Kendall, McHenry and Will Counties. Lake County, Indiana is also highlighted. Counties are considered at-risk based on the percentage of homes facing possible foreclosure, the portion with mortgage balances that exceeded estimated property values, the percentage of average local wages required to pay for home ownership expenses and local unemployment rates. 

Also, there’s a new ranking of the country’s top 100 colleges and universities with startup founders. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Jason Turner, Chief Investment Strategist for Wintrust Wealth Management, joins John to talk about today’s job data, employment gradually cooling, why the data is not panic inducing, inflation slowly moving towards the Fed’s target, and what the labor data will mean for Fed policy later this month.

Segment 2: Bree Fowler, Senior Writer, CNET, joins John to talk about X being suspended in Brazil, the Biden administration seizing Russian-run websites and charging two state media employees in an effort yet to push back against Russian attempts to spread disinformation, and Verizon buying Frontier Communications.

Segment 3: Dale Buss, writer for Food Technology, Contributing Editor of Chief Executive Magazine and Founder/Executive Director of The Flyover Coalition, joins John to talk about the use of AI in the food industry.

Segment 4: Mike LaVitola, Foxtrot Café & Market Chairman, joins John to talk about the reopening of their first store in Chicago’s Gold Coast today.

Nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage joins John Williams to talk about market volatility recently and what you should be aware of if you are close to retirement. Terry also answers all of your financial questions.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

United States Steel says thousands of job cuts could happen if its acquisition by Nippon Steel is blocked. U.S. Steel operates facilities in northwest Indiana. The company says without the support of Nippon, it would have to pivot away from blast furnaces, a move that would imperil jobs and undermine the competitiveness of American steel industry. Politicians and union leaders have been pushing to stop the acquisition by the Japanese company so that the American steel industry doesn’t come under foreign control. Nippon has promised to invest nearly $3 billion in U.S. Steel’s older mills including $300 million for the Gary Works facility. 

Also, Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Company is cutting some of its diversity efforts after a right-wing activist threatened to target the company. Listen for more below: