Senior members of the media owner's male lifestyle team are meeting agencies this month to gauge their perceptions of free magazines, particularly the recently launched Sport, to determine the strength of the business model.
Emap is also promising agencies radical overhauls of its monthly titles, including women's fashion title NW, which could go weekly.
The prospect of a free magazine comes as Emap wants to strengthen its hold of the male lifestyle market, including sport, in the face of falling circulations for its paid-for print titles.
Sales of FHM, Zoo and Arena all fell by more than 21% year on year in the second half of 2006.
Sport Media & Strategy launched Sport, which targets ABC1 men aged 18 to 40, last September. It currently hand-distributes 321,893 copies a week across the capital.
Rob Munro-Hall, managing director of Emap's male lifestyle portfolio, said a free magazine was one of several ideas he was exploring, as he was impressed with what Sport had achieved to date.
"As distribution becomes more expensive and online fragments and changes the marketplace, publishers are duty-bound to consider all opportunities," he added.
One press buyer said: "They're concerned about where the likes of Zoo and Nuts are going. They've had a good three years with these, but now men are getting the same stuff online, Emap is being very inquisitive about the value of other distribution channels."
NW, previously known as New Woman, underwent a redesign last November to curb a sales drop of 14.4% year on year, which was largely attributed to the popularity of weeklies such as Emap's own Grazia, Heat and Closer. It is Emap's last remaining women's monthly.
One press director said: "They're promising dramatic changes rather than tinkering with redesigns, and said they were looking at whether to change the frequency of several titles."
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