We identify an analytical expression for the distortion of a scalable video bitstream. Relying on the distortion expression, we propose a low complexity distortion-optimal Unequal Error Protection (UEP) method for the transmission of such video bitstream over wireless tandem channels. Utilizing a one-dimensional Forward Error Correction (FEC) coding scheme, our proposed transmission method protects the bitstream against both bit errors caused by fading and packet erasures caused by network buffering. Our coding scheme also leverages symbol interleaving to better cope with the temporally correlated loss observed over the tandem channels of interest. We evaluate the performance of our proposed scheme by comparing its results against those of UEP product codes as well as those of optimized version of Equal Error Protection (EEP). For a variety of choices of fixed packet sizes, available budgets, and channel conditions, we illustrate the performance advantage of our scheme over other schemes. Our experiments also show that our scheme works more efficiently for channels with a higher probability of bit errors than those with a lower probability of bit errors.