'The Bachelor' returns for another season

LOS ANGELES, April 27 (UPI) -- ABC has signed "The Bachelor" to its fall schedule for a fourth season, Zap2it.com reported Tuesday.

"Through brilliant casting and carefully added elements to the original formula, the show is a rock on our primetime lineup," said Andrea Wong, ABC's head of alternative series and specials.

"The Bachelor" is ABC's most watched entertainment program with 13.1 million viewers weekly last season. The series also is ABC's highest rated program among adults 18-49, the demographic group advertisers target most heavily.

The show's "bachelors" have not fared as well as the show's ratings. Alex Michel, Aaron Buerge, Andrew Firestone and Bob Guiney all broke up with the women they chose in the finals. Bachelor No. 5, Jesse Palmer, reportedly is hanging in there -- at least so far.