Yes, prior to the Commission on Presidential Debates that was created in 1987 in advance of the Bush/Dukakis debates.
Also note that prior to the 1996 debates, the panel of questioners were from mixed media, including the competing networks and print journalists. Beginning with the 1996 debates, the only people questioning the candidates were from the network hosting the debates.
-PJ
It was a better system prior to all this IMO. It should not be down to the networks.
The womens league should never have accepted it.