The former more like GOB. Last I knew, their price/ issue or subscription was substantially higher than CW, SAIL. Upgrade to better paper, better printing, better content, less advertising(at a higher price). I would imagine any editorial staff would love to go this way. The tough part would be convincing financial of it's worth. Would less people pay more money? I pay a fortune in comparison, for an online subscription to the NYTs. Why? The writing quality and content, the quality of photography, and the lack of ads.

The later route - more like Points East. Free publication. More ads, cheaper paper-printing. This is a hard concept for me to envision, but it's being done. It would have to be distributed to various areas-regions, and then public outlets and retailers.
You may supply mailing subscriptions(mailing 'cost' is a hidden goldmine)? Who could resist picking it up?

Sure you'd know it was advertiser driven, how far off from that are most pay for magazines, today?