In accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention, a method and apparatus are described for assigning layers of a scalable media stream to one or more groups. A data type value is assigned to least one group, and the at least one group is mapped to a physical layer pipe. Data of the scalable media stream is transmitted in the physical layer pipe in a data frame, and a lowest data type value of groups of layers transmitted in the physical layer pipe in the data frame is signaled in the transmission of the data frame. Further, a corresponding method and apparatus are disclosed for receiving data from a scalable media stream.