A primary transmitter of a multicast communication system transmits in-band backhaul to a relay transmitter using an LDM signal that also carries services to end-users. The relay transmitter processes received wireless signal to extract the in-band backhaul and re-transmits services obtained from the in-band backhaul in same or different frequency channel. The in-band backhaul may be transmitted in a high-capacity layer of the LDM signal carrying or in a separate timeslot. Transmitter-specific signature signals may be used for loopback and forward channel estimation at the relay transmitter. The in-band backhaul may also carry service data for devices in a different network.