US president Donald Trump has mocked the ratings for the 2018 Academy Awards, which were the lowest ever recorded, according to Nielsen viewing figures for the ceremony.

26.5m US viewers watched the ABC network’s live broadcast of the four-hour show, a 16% drop from the 32.9m who tuned in for the awards in 2017. The ratings for Sunday’s ceremony do not include digital or mobile viewers.

Trump joined a chorus of conservative commentators ridiculing the viewing figures, tweeting that the low numbers were because “we don’t have Stars anymore - except your President (just kidding, of course)!”

While viewing for the Oscars ceremony is often tied to the popularity of the films nominated, this year’s best picture winner, The Shape of Water, has performed better at the box office than the past five winners in the category. Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy film has earned $57m at the US box office, more than double the takings of last year’s best picture winner, Moonlight.

The previous record low for the ceremony was in 2008, when No Country for Old Men won best picture. In the wake of those figures, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revamped the ceremony, increasing the number of nominees for the best picture category to a maximum of 10 in an attempt to include more blockbuster films and generate more viewer excitement. However, the change has rarely had the desired effect, with this year’s best picture category failing to include any of 2017’s three highest-grossing films: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast and Wonder Woman.

Despite the decrease in viewers, the broadcast was the most watched US TV programme on Sunday night, and is likely to be among the highest-viewed of 2018, excluding sporting events. The broadcast also comfortably outmatched ratings for the other major awards shows this year, including the The Golden Globes, which reached 19m viewers in January and the Grammys, which managed 19.8m viewers last month.