Each debate costs about $2 million to produce which is borne by the network showing the debate, so where does that money come from and who is going to show the debate? National Review does suggest there are alternatives, such as Yahoo. A debate can be live streamed, etc. I'll go with Yahoo - it will drive the networks ever crazier they are not part of the process. A great thought.
How much money did CNBC make in Ads for this? Offer the deal to Fox, they baulk, go to CNN or MSNBC and they will leap at the deal.
Yeah, it is actually that easy but what would an NRO pundit know about running a business or making a deal.
That's only if it's considered in the context that it is currently being done. You could book a ballroom at one of Trump's hotels, host 100 / 200 people in the audience and send a stream or video of it over to OAN, NewsMax TV, whoever; who then would broadcast it to their viewers.
The technology exists today that ensures the quality of service as well as the efficiency. What it doesn't do is provide as much leverage of the networks over the parties, not to mention union scales for all the setup and tear down of the stage and network broadcast equipment from the host venue.
How much did this one cost?
Now that the slew of candidates have formed into a solid line opposed to the enemedia (except yeb!, who remains on the side of the enemedia), they could roll their own debate. How about going cross-country on Acela, stopping in the various cities along the way, for a series of real debates.