The planned advertising partnership between Google (GOOG) and Yahoo (YHOO), which was devised during Microsoft’s (MSFT) unsolicited bid for Yahoo, is headed for a federal antitrust challenge. And that could mean, according to one analyst, that Google could wind up walking away from the deal. Two days after the Association of National Advertisers sent a letter to the Justice Department opposing the Google-Yahoo ad pact, antitrust regulators hired high-powered attorney Sanford Litvack to lead its legal challenge to block the deal, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Howard Stern hit the jackpot when he moved to satellite radio more than three years ago. He’s pocketing $80 million a year and has received Sirius Satellite Radio stock worth roughly $200 million for meeting subscriber growth targets spelled out in his five-year contract. But the shock jock may be in for a shock of his own when his deal expires in 2010. Heavy spending by Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, its chief rival and potential merger partner, on stars like Stern have come at a hefty price: While millions of radio enthusiasts have signed up in recent years, both Sirius and XM are deeply in debt, cash-strapped and suffering an ominous sales slowdown.

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AT&T is planning to put some extra shine on the even sleeker new Apple iPhone. When the 3G iPhone is introduced this summer, AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone sales partner with Apple, will cut the price by as much as $200, according to a person familiar with the strategy.

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