---
title: Media over QUIC (MOQ)
description: "Media over QUIC (MOQ) explained: how this emerging open standard works, what it changes for B2B distribution and streaming, and how Quortex helps shape it."
image: https://quortex.io/hubfs/Images/Quortex_OTT%20operator_01.webp
---

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- [MEDIA OVER QUIC (MOQ)](https://quortex.io/moq)

Media over QUIC (MOQ)

Live channels, carried the way the internet works today.

Every affiliate, operator and platform now expects its own version of a live channel. Media over QUIC is a new open standard built for this: all tracks travel side by side, and each receiver takes only the ones it needs, at the latency that suits it. 

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## How live channels move with MOQ.

![Icon\_Scale\_Outline\_Yellow-](https://148622744.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/148622744/Brand%20Assets/Icons/Outlined%20Icons/Yellow/Icon_Scale_Outline_Yellow-.svg)

Carried over QUIC.

Media travels over QUIC, the transport behind HTTP/3, as separate streams that don't hold each other up when the network misbehaves. Encryption is built in, and a session survives a change of network. 

![Icon\_Tune\_Outline\_Yellow-](https://148622744.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/148622744/Brand%20Assets/Icons/Outlined%20Icons/Yellow/Icon_Tune_Outline_Yellow-.svg)

Tracks and a catalog.

A publisher splits each channel into separate tracks for video, audio, subtitles and data. A catalog lists them all and updates live, so receivers always know what they can take. 

![Icon\_Outlin\_yellow\_Complexity-](https://148622744.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/148622744/Brand%20Assets/Icons/Outlined%20Icons/Yellow/Icon_Outlin_yellow_Complexity-.svg)

Relays in the network.

Relays sit between publishers and receivers, keeping recent media in cache and fanning each track out to as many receivers as ask for it. That is what lets MOQ run over public content delivery networks (CDNs). 

B2B DISTRIBUTION USE CASE

Publish once, subscribe to the right feeds.

Live channels now carry many audio languages, subtitles and data feeds, and each taker, from a small local affiliate to a national broadcaster, needs a different mix. Quortex PowerVu makes the full set of tracks available, relays on public CDNs share them out, and each site subscribes to its own selection, then hands off a standard MPEG-2 transport stream or SDI so existing headends keep working unchanged. 

[Discover Quortex PowerVu](https://quortex.io/quortex-powervu/?hsLang=io)

![Quortex\_broadcast\_01B](https://quortex.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Quortex_broadcast_01B.webp?width=300&name=Quortex_broadcast_01B.webp)

![Quortex\_Video streaming\_02](https://quortex.io/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Quortex_Video%20streaming_02.webp?width=300&name=Quortex_Video%20streaming_02.webp)

STREAMING DELIVERY USE CASE

Beyond low latency: richer live experiences at scale.

For streaming services, MOQ means one protocol that can serve highly interactive experiences and very large audiences alike, let viewers move back and forth within a live event, and keep data such as scores or stats in step with the video. And since CDNs are already starting to run MOQ relays, these services can grow on delivery infrastructure that exists today. 

[Beyond low latency: the bigger picture for MOQ. Read the blog](https://quortex.io/quortex-blog/beyond-low-latency-the-bigger-picture-for-moq?hsLang=io)

[How MOQ meets the technical demands of in-play betting. Read the blog](https://quortex.io/quortex-blog/how-moq-meets-the-technical-demands-of-in-play-betting?hsLang=io)

### Experience built inside the standard.

 Quortex joined the MOQ journey at the very start, and has helped shape it ever since.

![ietf-logo-transparent](https://148622744.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hub/148622744/hubfs/Images/Other%20logos/ietf-logo-transparent.png?width=150&name=ietf-logo-transparent.png)

 Part of the MOQ working group since 2022, contributing to the catalog, timelines, access tokens and transport stream carriage. 

[See the working group](https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/moq/about/)

![openmoq-logo-transparent](https://148622744.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hub/148622744/hubfs/Images/Other%20logos/openmoq-logo-transparent.png?width=270&name=openmoq-logo-transparent.png)

Charter member of the consortium building open-source software for the MOQ standards. 

[Visit OpenMOQ](https://openmoq.org)

 MOQ FAQ

## Frequently asked questions

What is Media over QUIC (MOQ)?

 Media over QUIC (MOQ) is an open protocol under development at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for moving live and on-demand media over the internet. It runs on QUIC, the transport behind HTTP/3, and organizes media into tracks that receivers subscribe to through relays. Those relays can cache and copy media, which lets MOQ scale across content delivery networks. 

What are tracks, groups and objects in MOQ?

 They are the three levels MOQ uses to organize media, from the stream a receiver subscribes to down to the smallest piece a relay can store. A track is one stream, such as a video resolution, an audio language or a subtitle feed, named within a namespace much like a web address. A group is a run of media that opens on a decodable point, similar to a group of pictures, and marks where a receiver can join a track or switch to another. An object is the smallest unit, such as a frame or a piece of metadata, and because each object has its own address, relays can cache it and serve it again. 

How does MOQ compare with HLS and DASH?

 MOQ pushes media to subscribers as it is produced, while HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) rely on players requesting each segment in turn. Both approaches can run on CDNs. MOQ adds a choice of latency per receiver and native signaling of many tracks in one session. HLS and DASH remain mature and widely deployed for large-scale streaming today. 

How does MOQ compare with WebRTC?

 Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) is built for real-time conversations, while MOQ is designed to cover real-time, low-latency and on-demand use from one protocol. Because each piece of MOQ media has its own address, relays can cache it and serve it again, which supports large audiences and features such as timeshift. 

When will the MOQ standard be final?

 The final draft of MOQ Transport version 1, the core protocol, is expected in early 2027. Companion specifications, such as the streaming format that defines the catalog and timelines, continue to progress alongside it. 

Can MOQ be used for primary distribution to affiliates?

Yes. MOQ suits primary distribution because the content owner can make every audio language, subtitle and data track available, while each affiliate subscribes only to the ones it needs. Quortex applies this model with Quortex PowerVu and the Media Edge Gateway (MEG).

Does MOQ work with existing receivers and headends?

 Yes. Integrated receiver-decoders (IRDs) need a complete, continuous MPEG-2 transport stream, with its program tables, signaling and clock. Point-to-point transports keep that stream intact but need a separate session for each receiver, while segment-based streaming scales through CDNs but breaks the continuous flow. MOQ is designed to offer both, and an IETF draft co-authored by Quortex defines how to carry a transport stream over it unchanged. At the receiving site, the Media Edge Gateway (MEG) hands off a standard MPEG-2 transport stream or SDI to existing headends and IRDs. 

Can MOQ work alongside satellite distribution?

 Yes. In a satellite-hybrid setup, the satellite stays the primary path and the internet recovers what is lost, for example during rain fade, which matters more as some broadcasters move from C-band to Ku-band. MOQ relays suit this recovery role: they already hold recent media in cache and run on standard CDN infrastructure rather than dedicated servers. Quortex is exploring this approach based on the Video Services Forum (VSF) recommendations for satellite-hybrid distribution. 

How low is MOQ latency?

 MOQ lets each workflow choose its latency rather than imposing one. For streaming to viewers, operators can work in a range from about 250 milliseconds to one second depending on the picture quality they guarantee. For primary distribution, matching the latency of satellite is often the goal, and MOQ can be tuned to meet it. 

How is Quortex involved in MOQ?

Quortex has taken part in the IETF MOQ working group since 2022 and contributed to several specifications, including the catalog and timelines format, access tokens for MOQ, and the carriage of MPEG-2 transport streams over MOQ. It has also shown this work in public demos at major industry shows, from multi-track catalogs to timeshift and transport streams over MOQ. Read the drafts:

- MOQT Streaming Format → [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-moq-msf/](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-moq-msf/)
- Common Access Tokens for MOQ → [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-moq-c4m/](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-moq-c4m/)
- MPEG-2 transport stream packaging for MOQT → [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-gregoire-moq-msfts/](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-gregoire-moq-msfts/)

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### See where MOQ fits in your live workflows.

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