Productive scientific debating is usually done in writing, or over long periods of time, not in entertainment-driven TV shows. It's unfortunate both are called "debating" but mean something very different.
For example, most journals will specifically select peer reviewers who have published papers with conclusions/results counter to the one being reviewed. And those reviewers will take a run at you.
Journals do this because printing papers that need a retraction isn't in their best interest. If they can, they'll shoot down a paper before it gets that far.