M/H Groups each begin with a respective trellis-initialization of 2/3 trellis coding used as inner convolutional coding of concatenated convolutional coding (CCC). Concluding each M/H Group with another trellis-initialization of 2/3 trellis coding terminates the inner convolutional coding of the CCC properly, facilitating bi-directional decoding thereof. Properly terminating the inner convolutional coding of the CCC also facilitates wrap-around turbo decoding of that M/H Group beginning after the earlier training sequence with known 8VSB symbols and concluding with the trellis-initialization of 2/3 trellis coding before that earlier training sequence. At least one further trellis-initialization of 2/3 trellis coding can be inserted into an M/H Group for splitting it into first and second portions that can be decoded separately and that can be efficiently packed by portions of RS Frames employing transverse Reed-Solomon codes of a standard length.