After nearly two months of construction, and a very hyped up promotion, the renovated Newsplex made its debut at 10pm tonight. And of course it is slick, and very busy looking. Overall, in my opinion, it looks much better than what they did at WHDH in Boston. WSVN’s version looks and feels so much more coherent and well executed than at WHDH where not much really changed save for the LED video strip.

We also like their decision to go with a wide video wall on the second floor. Even better, they avoided those over used thin bezel LCD panels used that many stations including WFOR, WTVJ and WPLG use nowadays in favor of a massive, seamless LED array.

Ever since they introduced the projector screen I’ve thought this would be the way to go, as it gives a much bigger and wider rather than boxier feel.

The news desk also received some much needed attention, they did a good job reducing the tin can vibe it gave off before by adding a bigger monitor, and a big lit circle seven logo – you know, just in case you forget which station you’re watching. 

Speaking of big logos, the Satellite Center counter also has a giant circle seven on it. Gotta get that branding burned into our brains.

And while the biggest change is the newsplex itself, something it desperately needed six years ago, we felt the graphics a little on the meh side. A lot of the elements haven’t been changed although the open isn’t too bad and the new transitions are pretty cool. And you’d be forgiven if you thought the red and black look seen in the recent promos would be what WSVN planned to roll out.

Of interesting note is that Paul Turner continues to be the voice over considering that former WSVN voice over Scott Chapin unretired and came back as the voice of WHDH late last year.

So what do you think? Was it worth the wait and the hype?

Here’s 19:50 minutes from the live broadcast, including the promos that ran during the show.

[MP4 video – 2.12GB]