The reverse link of a spectrally overlaid macrocell/microcell cellular CDMA system supporting multimedia traffic is characterized in terms of the required signal power, interference, and capacity. Several narrowband subsystems are overlaid with a wideband subsystem in macrocells, while a single wideband subsystem is operated in a microcell with the same spectrum as the macrocell wideband subsystem. Using a typical propagation model the reverse link signal power and interference are characterized as the relative user signal power and the cross-tier interference factors between the macrocell and the microcell. The reverse link capacity of the overlay system is then analyzed. Analytical results show that the dominant parameters affecting the system performance are the spectral overlay ratio and the distance between the microcell and macrocell base stations. In particular, when the distance equals a half of macrocell radius, optimum performance can be achieved by minimizing the cross-tier interference factors. These results can be applied to CDMA multimedia network planning in heavily populated traffic areas.