A method and apparatus for layered rateless coding are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises dividing content into a plurality of content layers based on priority; expanding each layer into an encoded layer using an erasure code at a coding rate to produce a plurality of encoding layers, wherein the coding rate for each layer is set based on the priority and reduces as the priority of the content layers increases; concatenating a plurality of encoding layers produced by passing the plurality of layers through fixed rate precoders; and performing rateless encoding on the concatenated plurality of encoding layers to produce rateless encoding blocks.