The future of “The View” co-host Elisabeth Hasselback is up in the air. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Hasselbeck will not be returning to the daytime program next season. 
 
 In a statement, a spokesperson for “The View” tells TVNewser, “Elisabeth Hasselbeck is a valued member of ‘The View’ and has a long term contract.” 
 
 When pressed on whether she would be returning next season, the spokesperson replied, “she has a long term contract.” 
 
 A contract certainly provides job security for talent, but as has been shown over and over (see Conan O’Brien vs. NBC), if someone wants there to be changes, changes can and will happen. 
 
 Hasselbeck has been a panelist on “The View” since 2003. She has served as a game foil to her co-hosts, representing not only a younger generation of women, but also serving as the show’s resident Republican. Given that the program routinely features discussions about politics, and interviews with newsmakers, she often made her political opinions known. 
 
 The news of Hasselbeck’s possible departure comes less than 24 hours after Joy Behar revealed that she will be leaving the show after more than 16 years at the end of the season. Co-creator Barbara Walters is the lone original host. The other co-hosts are Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd. 

 Elisabeth Hasselbeck is being fired from "The View," according to Us Weekly. (UPDATE: Barbara Walters denied the reports on Monday. Scroll down for more information.) 
 
 Quoting anonymous sources, the magazine reported Friday that the conservative co-host is following Joy Behar out the door after market researchers found that her political views were clashing with the audience. "People did not watch the show because of Elisabeth. So they told her yesterday her contract would not be renewed," a source told Us Weekly. 
 
 That report followed a Deadline piece which said that her future on the ABC show was "unclear." 
 
 Following Us Weekly's report, TV Newser posted a similar story. The site's Alex Weprin cited two sources who said Hasselbeck was leaving. A spokesman for the show told Weprin that Hasselbeck has a "long-term contract." 
 
 If Hasselbeck's conservatism is a problem with audiences, it would appear to be a relatively new one; she has been on the show for nearly ten years, and "The View" has maintained its ratings success. 
 
 Hasselbeck's departure would mean that "The View" is suddenly without two of its longest-running hosts. The show has had the same cast since 2007, when it brought in Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd to replace Rosie O'Donnell and Star Jones. Hasselbeck's exit would also leave the show without one of its main sources of conflict; her political arguments with Goldberg and Behar — and, before them, O'Donnell — have long been a key feature. 
 
 UPDATE: Barbara Walters denied the reports on Monday, saying there are "no plans" for Hasselbeck to leave.
– The View might have one more open seat: US Weekly reports that co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck is getting fired after nine years because viewers are put off by her conservative views. The report follows Joy Behar's decision to leave after nearly 17 years. Neither ABC nor Hasselbeck has confirmed the news, though TVNewser has two sources also saying that Hasselbeck won't be back next season. "If Hasselbeck's conservatism is a problem with audiences, it would appear to be a relatively new one," notes the Huffington Post. "She has been on the show for nearly ten years with no apparent fuss." Click for more.