This paper deals with the problem of efficient transmission of video signals over generalized fading channels using direct sequence-spread spectrum (DS-SS) systems. We first propose a modified version of the H.263 video codec which results in improvement of average video and frame performance. Using a coherent DS-CDMA system based upon the IS-95 standard, we investigate the performance of the proposed video codec over frequency-selective, correlated Nakagami fading forward-link channels employing a RAKE receiver. A variety of performance evaluation results, both in single-cell and multiple-cell environment, are presented for different number of resolving paths and signal propagation characteristics, as well as for the presence of channel estimation errors.