In this paper, we propose a novel advanced multirate design for evolved Multimedia Multicast/Broadcast Service (eMBMS) in fourth generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks. The proposed design provides: i) reliability, based on random network coded (RNC) transmission, and ii) efficiency, obtained by optimized rate allocation across multi-rate RNC streams. The paper provides an in-depth description of the system realization and demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed eMBMS design using both analytical and simulation results. The system performance is compared with popular multi-rate multicast approaches in a realistic simulated LTE/LTE-A environment.