Apple sent out an email announcing changes to the category structure used for Podcasts in iTunes. They say they will continue to support the use of the old category names for the next few months, although they are asking podcasters to change their feeds as soon as possible.  Apple stores and captures up to 3 category/subcategory pairs, with the first being the one used to map podcasts to the category feature page.

Three categories have been removed without any replacement – International, Talk Radio and Public Radio. Apparently, those categories overlapped with others in the old system, making some podcasts difficult to find.

While other categories have disappeared, they will be mapped somehow to the new categories.

Changes to your categories may take 1-2 weeks from the time you edit your feed.

Apple’s spec page located at  http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/techspecs.html#_Toc526931682 will be updated soon.

The new categories will start showing up in iTunes once podcasts start using the new categories.

NewiItunes category structure

Business

• Business News
• Careers
• Investing
• Management & Marketing
• Shopping

Comedy

Education

• Educational Technology
• Higher Ed
• K-12
• Language Courses
• Training

Games & Hobbies

• Automotive
• Aviation
• Hobbies
• Other Games
• Video Games

Government & Organizations

• Local
• National
• Non-Profit
• Regional Health

Alternative Health

• Fitness & Nutrition
• Self-Help
• Sexuality

Kids & Family

Music

News & Politics

Religion & Spirituality

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Judaism
• Other
• Spirituality

Science & Medicine

• Medicine
• Natural Sciences
• Social Sciences

Society & Culture

• History
• Personal Journals
• Philosophy
• Places & Travel

Sports & Recreation

• Amateur
• College & High School
• Outdoor
• Professional

Technology

• Gadgets
• IT News
• Podcasting
• Software

How-To

TV & Film