The Fair Trade Commission's current investigation into whether or not Seven-Eleven Japan Co. bullies its franchise members has been barely covered by commercial TV news, which isn't surprising.
Seven & i Holdings, the parent company, is one of the few major corporations still buying ad time despite the recession, so TV stations aren't likely to risk making the company mad.
NHK doesn't have to worry about ads, and its coverage of the issue has been more thorough. In a nutshell, franchise owners of Seven-Eleven convenience stores have complained to the FTC for years that representatives of Seven-Eleven Japan have told them not to sell perishable foods at discounts as expiration times approach. Franchise owners have to throw this food away if it isn't sold in time and absorb the cost. The parent company loses nothing when food is thrown away.