We analyze the execution time of MAC-layer Reed-Solomon error recovery in cdma2000 1xEV-DO broadcast and multicast services (BCMCS), with respect to cache size and air channel condition. We observe that a deteriorating channel condition often causes an intolerable delay for real-time tasks because of the error recovery process, even when sufficient cache memory is available to increase CPU throughput. To overcome this problem, we propose proactive Reed-Solomon bypass (PRSB), which determines whether the Reed-Solomon scheme should be used to correct errors in the real-time communication environment. The proposed scheme utilizes the cache effectively, thus preventing reset of the entire decoding process and allowing real-time multimedia applications to meet their deadline constraints. Simulation results show that the PRSB greatly improves the overall playback quality of a video.