Abstract: A broadcast multimedia data stream is partitioned into two or more parts based on importance, e.g., a first part might represent more significant bits in groups of bits representing pixel colors in a video frame, while a second part might represent the less significant bits in the groups. The more important part of the stream is error correction coded at a lower rate or using a more powerful coding technique (i.e., with more error correction coding) than is the less important part of the stream.