Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and an apparatus, relate to the communication field, and in particular, are applicable to a broadcast system. The method includes: A terminal device receives a first downlink channel from an access network device, where the first downlink channel is scrambled by using a first identifier and is used to carry first data. The terminal device receives a second downlink channel from the access network device, where the second downlink channel is scrambled by using a second identifier and is used to retransmit the first data. The first identifier and the second identifier are identifiers configured by the access network device. This method can implement a feedback retransmission mechanism combining broadcast initial transmission and partial retransmission, to further improve spectral efficiency of a communication system.