Raycom Media Inc. is obligated to pay $22 million to the owner of KGMB9 in seven years as part of the newsroom merger between KGMB, KHNL and K5 television stations.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, Virginia-based MCG Capital Corp said Raycom, which owns K5 and KHNL, also must make quarterly interest payments and annual principal payments.

Critics said the arrangement shows that the merger is in fact a sale and should be overturned under federal laws barring multiple ownership of television stations in a single market.

"This is media consolidation at its worst," said Chris Conybeare, president of Media Council Hawaii.

"They are trying to hide what they are doing from the public."

Paul McTear, Raycom's CEO, did not return calls.

Last month, Alabama-based Raycom merged the news operations of its local stations KHNL and K5 with those of KGMB and laid off about a third of the staff at all three stations.

Raycom has said the newsroom merger does not violate federal laws because there's no change of ownership stake.

Raycom has said the deal is borne out of economic necessity in an advertising market that has shrunk by about 30 percent, or $20 million a year.

The payments to MCG are part of an asset exchange agreement in which MCG has agreed to transfer the equipment and other assets used to run KGMB to Raycom.

Raycom, in turn, issued a note promising to pay MCG $22 million in 2016.

MCG also will receive the rights to the business contracts at Raycom's K5 television station.

The interest rate and amount of the annual principal payments on the note were not disclosed.